Truck Transportation Jobs Take Big Upward Move in Latest Monthly Report

Jobs in the truck transportation sector rose by a significant 7,900 jobs in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while a revised September figure tacked on even more jobs from the original estimate.

Employment in the truck transportation sector as defined by the BLS rose to 1,515,500 jobs in October on a seasonally adjusted basis. Most economists look to the seasonally adjusted figures as being most accurate in measuring employment trends.

The 7,900-job increase was off a revised September number of 1,507,600 jobs. That September figure in turn was up 4,700 jobs from the first September estimate published last month.

BLS numbers on employment are considered final after two months of preliminary numbers. The employment figure for August came in at 1,503,100 jobs, which also was an upward revision from its most recent estimate. That means that total employment in the truck transportation sector is up 12,400 jobs since August.

But even the large increase in seasonally adjusted truck transportation jobs was dwarfed by what was reported for not seasonally adjusted numbers. October not seasonally adjusted jobs came in at 1,531,600 jobs, up 11,000 from a revised September figure. With August also being revised upward to a final figure of 1,520,500 jobs, it means that the October numbers are up more than 31,000 jobs from August.

Other job figures in the supply chain showed growth. Seasonally adjusted warehouse jobs were up to 1,499,400 jobs, a gain of 20,200 in just a month. Not seasonally adjusted warehouse jobs posted an insanely high gain of 50,800 jobs from a month earlier.

FreightWaves will continue to cover this story later in the day.

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