For-Hire Trucking Gains 1,700 Jobs in July
For-hire trucking gained 1,700 jobs in July, and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.9%, the Labor Department reported Aug 5.
The gains were scored after the sector lost 6,300 jobs in June.
“While not many, this was the first gain in our industry since January,” said Bob Costello, chief economist at American Trucking Associations. “The jobs market as of late is clearly a good signal for the broader economy.”
Costello said from February through June, trucking shed 11,500 people “in the face of soft freight and ample capacity. However, one month does not make a trend and in order for employment to continue to rise in the industry, freight must improve.”
Transportation and warehousing, which includes trucking, added 11,700 positions, with the transit and ground transportation accounting for 4,400 of the total, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The 255,000 rise in total payrolls followed a gain in June of 292,000 jobs and exceeded all forecasts in a survey of 89 economists, Bloomberg News reported.
Another surprisingly strong jobs report. +255k in July. June revised up to +292k from +287k reported last month. — Bob Costello (@ATAEconBob) August 5, 2016
“Solid labor markets mean households will be in good shape, incomes will be OK,” Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Investment Bank in New York, told Bloomberg before the report. Gapen also said the Fed probably will raise rates in September if hiring remains strong.
Costello said this second-straight solid overall jobs report “makes it more likely, but not a guarantee since other economic data isn’t as strong, that the Fed increases interest rates a quarter point before the end of the year.”
Jobs rose in several areas of the economy, including the leisure industry, health care and professional and business services.
Employment in other major industries, including construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade and information, was essentially unchanged from last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
Also, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours in July. In manufacturing, the workweek was unchanged at 40.7 hours, while overtime increased by 0.1 hour to 3.3 hours.
The bureau reported the average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 8 cents to $25.69. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.6%. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 7 cents to $21.59 in July.
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for May was revised to a gain of 24,000 from 11,000, and the change for June was revised to 292,000 from 287,000.
With these revisions, employment gains in May and June combined were 18,000 more than previously reported. Over the past 3 months, job gains have averaged 190,000 per month, BLS said.
