Trucking Adds 400 Jobs; Unemployment Little Changed at 7.3%
The number of trucking jobs in the United States increased in October from September as the overall unemployment rate was little changed at 7.3%, the Labor Department reported Nov. 8.
Trucking jobs rose by 400, but the transportation sector, which includes trucking, was unchanged. That followed an increase of 29,500 in September.
Overall, U.S. employers added 204,000 workers to payrolls. That followed a jobs gain of 163,000 in September, which was higher than originally reported.
Economists had forecast a 120,000 gain in payrolls, Bloomberg News reported. The unemployment rate matched economists’ forecast.
“The economy isn’t as weak as people seem to think it is in the fourth quarter,” Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank, told Bloomberg News. “The job market is in a phase of grinding improvement,” he said.
Private payrolls rose by 212,000 following a 150,000 increase in September.
Construction added 11,000 jobs, and manufacturing jobs increased by 19,000. Retailers added 44,400 jobs.
The unemployment rate is derived from a separate survey of households than the payrolls survey.
