Year over year, payroll employment was down in July over July 2009 but only by 1.1 percent. Total employment was 1.24 million – down 213,000, or 14.7 percent, from peak trucking employment in January 2007. The BLS numbers reflect all payroll employment in for-hire trucking, but they don’t include trucking-related jobs in other industries, such as a truck driver for a private fleet. Nor do the numbers reflect the total amount of hiring since they only include new jobs, not replacements for existing positions.
Nationwide, the overall jobs picture continues to suffer from the end of the temporary jobs that were created to complete the 2010 Census. Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 131,000 in July, primarily because 143,000 temporary Census workers completed their work. Private-sector payroll employment edged up by 71,000.