The for-hire trucking industry’s total payroll employment shrunk by 6,800 jobs in March, according to preliminary data released April 3 by the Department of Labor.
The DOL also slightly downwardly revised February’s total employment number by about 600 jobs.
March’s employment downswing snapped a string of month-to-month increases that dated back to December 2013.
Trucking’s employment backslide came as the economy as a whole also slowed its employment gains, adding just 126,000 jobs in the month. The national employment rate held at its multi-year low of 5.5 percent.
American Trucking Associations’ Chief Economist Bob Costello said on Twitter following the employment report release that the 6,800-job drop was “substantial,” but the country’s employment numbers make sense, given lackluster January and February economic data:
March trucking jobs fell by 6,800, a substantial drop.
