Trucking Loses 6,800 Jobs in March; Unemployment Rate Holds at 5.5%
The trucking industry lost 6,800 jobs in March as overall U.S. payrolls rose by 126,000, and the unemployment rate held at 5.5%, the Labor Department said April 3.
The overall transportation sector, which includes trucking, gained 9,500 jobs in March.
The overall rise in U.S. payrolls was the smallest Since December 2013 and well below analysts’ forecasts of a 245,000 increase, Bloomberg News reported.
“November-to-February payrolls were white-hot numbers, so we may see a much more realistic and sustainable pace,” Guy Berger, U.S. economist at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut, told Bloomberg News. “While more is better, we’re not going to be cranking out very high numbers all the time.”
Companies tempered the pace of the hiring as rough winter weather, tepid overseas markets and a slowdown in energy-related capital investment combined to sting the economy. Even with the moderation in March payrolls, persistent employment opportunities are keeping Americans upbeat and laying the ground for a rebound in spending, Bloomberg said.
The smaller advance in employment broke a yearlong string of monthly gains exceeding 200,000, which was the longest such stretch since 1995.
The slowdown in employment was broad-based. Goods producers, including factories, construction firms and the industries that support oil- and gas-well drilling, reduced jobs last month. Manufacturing payrolls dropped for the first time since July 2013, and employment in the leisure and hospitality industries was the weakest since September that same year.
