According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s monthly report, the number of for-hire trucking jobs dropped by 6,800 in March, marking the largest drop in two years. Back in March 2013, the industry had a loss of 10,400 jobs, but April 2013 saw an increase of 13,800 jobs.
In general, the economy welcomed an additional 126,000 jobs and unemployment held steady at 5.5%. However, the job growth was less than economists predicted and significantly lower than recent months.
The industry has rebounded since the low point in March 2010, recovering 205,600 jobs, and adding 39,300 for-trucking jobs compared to March of 2014. In fact, the March total is just 14,600 short of the all-time high set in January 2007.
Collectively, mining jobs dropped by 11,000, construction and manufacturing fell slightly, but warehousing and transportation added 9,200, retail increased by 25,900, health care gained 22,300, and business services grew by 40,000.
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