Trucking Employment Trends
In May, the number of trucking jobs saw a decline, yet the industry’s employment status remains marginally improved compared to late last year. Specifically, trucking jobs decreased by 1,500 after a rise of 600 in April. Preliminary figures initially indicated a 1,500 loss in April, but revised numbers show an increase of 2,600 jobs in March, compared to a previous estimate of over 3,000.
Historical Context of Job Losses
The trucking sector faced a net reduction of 42,500 jobs in 2020, although this was not the most severe annual loss recorded. In 2009, over 100,000 trucking jobs were eliminated, and prior to that, 76,500 jobs were lost in 2008 during the Great Recession. Another significant downturn occurred in 2001, when the sector experienced a decrease of over 49,000 jobs.
Year-on-Year Comparison
From the end of 2020, trucking employment has risen by fewer than 1,000 positions. A year ago, the sector suffered a decline of over 92,000 jobs following the pandemic’s disruption, which marked its largest monthly loss since the tracking began in 1990. The peak impact was in April 2020, when nationwide stay-at-home orders forced many businesses to close or adjust their operations. The situation resulted in job losses that wiped out over five years of employment growth in trucking. However, May 2020 marked the beginning of a recovery, with nine consecutive months of job increases.
Positive Developments in Hiring
According to online freight network Convoy, there are encouraging signs despite ongoing discussions about labor shortages in the trucking field. They highlight three positive trends in their analysis of the employment report:
- Average hours worked at trucking companies continued to rise in April, surpassing a record high in March.
- Data from household surveys indicate that younger and Hispanic drivers are responding positively to recent hiring initiatives in the trucking industry.
- There has been a notable increase in searches for CDL training, which is not solely influenced by the conclusion of emergency unemployment benefits in various states.
Upcoming Employment Reports
Convoy anticipates that the employment report for June will provide further insights into the ongoing dynamics between the trucking industry’s efforts to onboard new drivers and the economic support measures from policymakers. As states ease pandemic-era policies and the service sector begins to recover, this could reveal whether the labor market ideas discussed by the freight industry will translate into actual job growth.
Transportation Sector Recovery
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the transportation sector rebounded from a significant drop in April with an increase of nearly 23,000 jobs in May, while previous reports indicated a loss of 74,000 jobs in the sector. Revised figures now show a net loss of 52,700 jobs. Most transportation subsectors reported employment gains, particularly support activities for transportation, which added 10,200 jobs, followed by air transport with an addition of 8,500 jobs. However, scenic/sightseeing transport faced the largest loss, dropping by 2,800 jobs, with trucking and water transport also seeing declines of 700 jobs each.
Current Earnings and Unemployment Rates
In terms of compensation, average hourly earnings in the transportation and warehousing sector reached $26.28 in May, reflecting a 21-cent increase from the previous month and a 66-cent rise from May 2020. Hourly wages for production and nonsupervisory positions also improved significantly. However, the unemployment rate for transportation and material-moving jobs slightly rose to 8.9% from April’s 8.8%. In contrast, the overall unemployment rate decreased from 6.1% to 5.8%, bolstered by the economy adding 559,000 jobs in May. This rate remains 2.3 percentage points higher than it was in February, prior to the introduction of stay-at-home mandates, although it has seen a 9-point decline since last April.
