Truck transportation jobs trend higher while warehouses shed workers

Truck transportation jobs continued a slow recovery from the depths of the freight recession and the job losses created when Yellow Corp. went out of business in 2023.

The December figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday showed that seasonally adjusted truck transportation jobs rose 3,300 last month, rising to 1,586,300 jobs. That increase also was fueled by upward adjustments in the earlier-reported figures for November and October. As a result, the December figure was 5,700 jobs more than the “final” figure for October of 1,580,600 jobs.

That October number is considered final because after its initial reporting in November, it is subject to revisions the next two months. It then holds that number until the February report, when the BLS releases revised figures for the entire prior year following adjustments to its statistical model. The BLS said earlier its model for 2023 was likely overstating the number of truck transportation jobs last year.

The revision for 2022 went in the opposite direction, revising jobs upward after concluding it had underestimated jobs during that year.

The increase in seasonally adjusted jobs came on the back of a decrease in not seasonally adjusted jobs. That figure dropped to 1,588,400 jobs from 1,592,900 jobs. While economists generally look to seasonally adjusted data, many of them caution that not seasonally adjusted data should not be ignored in observing larger trends. While the seasonally adjusted number has risen from October, not seasonally adjusted jobs are down 3,500 since October.

David Spencer, the vice president of market intelligence at Arrive Logistics, noted the difference between the seasonal and not seasonal numbers by saying that the divergence “indicates that jobs were down, but less than what is typical in December.”

Source: freightwaves.com