Trucking Adds 3,400 Jobs in August, Department of Labor Reports
For-hire trucking added 3,400 jobs in August, and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.9% as total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 151,000 in August, the Labor Department reported Sept. 2.
The gains were scored after the sector added 1,700 jobs in July and lost 6,300 in June. The total number of for-hire trucking jobs last month stood at 1,459,700 compared with 1,456,300 in July.
Transportation and warehousing, which includes trucking, added 14,900 positions, with warehousing and storage accounting for 4,300, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
The median forecast for the August in a Bloomberg survey called for 180,000 jobs.
The weaker-than-forecast monthly labor-force number comes after the previous two readings exceeded expectations. Slowing jobs growth threatens to derail the Fed’s ability to boost borrowing costs after Chair Janet Yellen said last week that the case for higher rates has strengthened, according to Bloomberg News.
In August, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 3 cents to $25.73. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.4%, BLS said.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls decreased by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours in August. In manufacturing, the workweek declined by 0.2 hour to 40.6 hours, while overtime was unchanged at 3.3 hours, BLS said.
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for June was revised to 271,000 from 292,000 and the change for July was revised up to 275,000 from 255,000, BLS said.
With these revisions, employment gains in June and July combined were 1,000 less than previously reported. Over the past three months, job gains have averaged 232,000 per month.
151,000 jobs created in Aug. not bad. Below estimates, but not bad. — Bob Costello (@ATAEconBob) September 2, 2016
