Trucking Gains 3,100 Jobs as July Payrolls Rise

U.S. payrolls jumped by 163,000 in July and trucking jobs rose by more than 3,000, the Labor Department said Friday.

The unemployment rate rose 0.1% from June to 8.3% as more people looked for work, and total private-sector jobs jumped by 172,000, topping economists’ forecasts, Bloomberg reported.

Economists’ had forecast an overall gain of 100,000 jobs and a private-sector increase of 110,000, Bloomberg said.

Trucking jobs rose by 3,100, while overall transportation sector employment, of which trucking is a subsector, jumped by almost 7,000, Labor figures showed.

June’s trucking jobs figure was revised upward to an 8,500 increase, from an originally reported 2,000.

Manufacturing employment spiked by 25,000, more than twice economists’ forecasts, Bloomberg reported.

Transportation equipment jobs jumped by 20,500 jobs, while motor vehicles and parts, which includes bodies and trailers, gained 12,800.

The payroll and unemployment figures are obtained by separate surveys, with payrolls from a survey of employers and the unemployment rate from a survey of households.