Trucking employment dips

Updated Oct 12, 2010

Estimated payroll employment in trucking was practically unchanged on a seasonally adjusted basis in September, dipping by 100 jobs throughout the industry, according to preliminary figures released Oct. 8 by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But BLS also revised upward its July and August figures by 1,300 and 2,600 jobs, respectively. Since the beginning of March, trucking companies have added 15,200 jobs, according to the latest numbers.

Year over year, payroll employment was down 0.6 percent in September from September 2009. Total employment was 1.24 million – down 210,800, or 14.5 percent, from peak trucking employment in January 2007.

The BLS numbers reflect all payroll employment in for-hire trucking, but they don’t include trucking-related jobs in other industries, such as a truck driver for a private fleet. Nor do the numbers reflect the total amount of hiring since they only include new jobs, not replacements for existing positions.

Nationwide, the continued drawdown in temporary jobs related to the Census along with local government job cuts more than offset gains in the private sector. Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 95,000 in September. Government jobs were down by 159,000 while private-sector employment grew by 64,000 jobs.