Trucking Adds 7,300 Jobs in December; Unemployment Declines to 5.6%
The trucking industry added 7,300 jobs in December as the unemployment rate declined to 5.6%, the lowest level since June 2008, the Labor Department reported Jan. 9.
The transportation and warehousing sector, which includes trucking, added 3,100 positions.
The 252,000 overall increase in employment followed a 353,000 rise the prior month that was more than previously estimated, Bloomberg News reported.
An additional 2.95 million Americans found work in 2014, the most in 15 years and a sign companies are optimistic U.S. demand will persist even as overseas markets struggle, Bloomberg reported.
The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 240,000 rise in payrolls. Estimates of 99 economists ranged from gains of 160,000 to 305,000 after a previously reported 321,000 November increase.
Construction added 48,000 workers, the most since January, and factories increased payrolls by 17,000.
“The labor market was on a tear going into 2015,” Jacob Oubina, a senior U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets, said before the report.
“It bodes well for the consumer and for the economy. The U.S. is growing at a decent clip and is more than likely to accelerate this year,” Oubina told Bloomberg.
