Trucking jobs rebound in April

After shedding jobs in March for the first time since July, for-hire trucking companies added 1,800 payroll jobs in April, according to the latest estimates released Friday, May 4, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS revised preliminary March figures downward by 500 jobs, so the drop in March was 2,500 jobs.

The overall economy added 115,000 nonfarm jobs — a number that was below most experts’ estimates and below the 154,000 job gains in March. Unemployment dipped only a tenth of a percentage point to 8.1%.

Payroll employment in for-hire trucking is up by 38,500 jobs, or 3%, from April 2011. Employment is up by 99,600 jobs, or 8.1%, from the bottom in March 2010, but it remains 119,600 jobs, or 8.2%, below the peak in January 2007.

The BLS numbers for trucking 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 reflect the number of employees paid during a specified payroll period during the month. Due to high turnover rates, the BLS estimates may overstate the number of job positions due to the methodology used in the agency’s Current Employment Survey.