Trucking jobs stabilize in November, remain down for the year

Trucking jobs increased just slightly in November, another indicator that there is some stability in the trucking industry.

According to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 700 trucking jobs were added to the economy in November. This marks only the fifth gain for the year as the trucking industry continues to move toward a yearly decline.

David Spencer, vice president of market intelligence at Arrive Logistics, told Land Line that the lack of fluctuation in trucking jobs during the fourth quarter suggests that the market remains sufficiently supplied to support demand, and capacity continues to exit at a slower pace than prior market cycles, likely due to record profits through the pandemic.

“In October, I noted that carriers who are involved with supporting the retail peak season or other seasonal demand such as food or Christmas trees may have taken a step back from the normal hiring ramp up and are comfortable handling the seasonal demand surges with the staff already in place,” Spencer said. “In November, trucking employment remained steady, an overperformance to a typical reduction in employment in the month. The data continues to highlight relative stability in trucking employment amid an easing demand environment.”

Spencer added that he expects further employment declines in the long term.

Revised numbers show a decrease of nearly 4,000 trucking jobs in October (compared to the initially reported loss of 5,000) and an increase of 14,000 jobs in September (compared to the initially reported gain of 13,400).

Year to date, trucking jobs are down by nearly 26,000. Last year, they went up by nearly 61,000.

Accounting for all transportation sector jobs, employment is down by 5,000 jobs. Transportation jobs have dropped seven times this year. Since the pandemic, they have dropped only twice before: in April 2021 (minus 12,900 jobs) and in November 2022 (minus 37,100).

Warehousing/storage experienced the largest monthly decrease (minus 8,100), followed by support activities for transportation (minus 2,100) and water transportation (minus 900). Despite the overall decrease, most subsectors experienced a job increase, albeit mostly small gains. Job gains were led by air transportation (4,100), trucks and transit/ground passenger transport (700).

Based on revised numbers, employment in the transportation sector dropped by 12,400 jobs in October, up from the initially reported 12,100. September’s revised numbers show an increase of 12,400 jobs, down slightly from the initially reported increase of 12,500.

Year to date, transportation employment is down by 24,100 jobs. For 2022 overall, transportation employment increased by nearly 261,000 jobs.

Month to month, wages decreased in November. Average weekly earnings of all employees in the transportation and warehousing sector decreased by $3.63 to $1,130.05. Compared to November 2022, hourly earnings are up to $29.66 from $28.11. Accounting for only production and nonsupervisory employees, average weekly earnings decreased from $1,061.07 in October to $1,056.92. Weekly earnings are up $1.82 to $28.26 compared to last November.

Across all industries, 199,000 jobs were added to the economy. The unemployment rate decreased from 3.9% to 3.7%. Compared to the previous year, the unemployment rate for transportation and material-moving occupations increased from 5 % to 6%.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the consumer price index has jumped by 3.2% over the past 12 months. The unchanged index in October 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 0.2%, up 4% over the year. LL