Trucking Adds 11,700 Jobs as Unemployment Rate Drops to 7.5%
Trucking added 11,700 jobs in April as the U.S. unemployment rate fell to a four-year low 7.5%, the Labor Department said Friday.
U.S. payrolls expanded by 165,000 workers following a revised 138,000 increase in March that was larger than the 88,000 first reported.
Revised figures showed the trucking industry lost 6,300 jobs in March, which was fewer than the 6,900 decline reported last month.
The overall transportation sector, which includes trucking, added 4,200 jobs in April following a decline of 6,700 in March that had originally been reported as a 2,800 decline.
The overall 165,000 payrolls gain topped economists’ forecast of 140,000, Bloomberg News reported.
The unemployment rate — the lowest since December 2008 — was forecast to hold at March’s 7.6% rate, Bloomberg reported.
Private payrolls jumped by 176,000, topping forecasts, after a revised gain of 154,000 in March.
Manufacturing employment was flat in April following a 2,000 gain in March.
