Trucking jobs increased in January

Trucking jobs experienced a modest increase in January, with transportation employment as a whole experiencing a monthly increase.

According to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 4,000 trucking jobs were added to the economy in January.

Revised numbers show an increase of more than 5,000 trucking jobs in December and an increase of 100 jobs in November.

Last year, trucking jobs went up by more than 64,000 jobs.

Accounting for all transportation sector jobs, employment is up nearly 23,000 jobs. Since the pandemic, transportation sector jobs have only dropped twice: once in April 2021 (minus 12,900 jobs) and again in November 2022 (minus 37,100).

Transit/ground passenger transportation experienced the largest monthly increase, with 7,400 more jobs, followed by support activities for transportation (6,500 jobs) and trucking. Couriers/messengers experienced the only monthly decline (minus 3,100).

Based on revised numbers, employment in the transportation sector rose by 13,000 in December and fell by more than 37,000 in November.

For 2022 overall, transportation employment  increased by more than 273,000 jobs.

Wages started to decrease in January. Average hourly and weekly earnings of all employees in the transportation and warehousing sector decreased by 3 cents to $28.08. Accounting for only production and nonsupervisory employees, average weekly earnings increased from $1,000.16 to $1,013.42.

Across all industries, more than 500,000 jobs were added to the economy. The unemployment rate dropped slightly to 3.4%. Compared to the previous year, the unemployment rate for transportation and material moving occupations dropped from 6.3% to 5.8%.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the consumer price index has jumped by 6.5% over the past 12 months. The 0.1% monthly increase in December was broad-based, with the indexes for shelter, gasoline, and food being the largest contributors. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.3%, up 5.7% over the year. LL