Trucking adds 1,300 jobs in July

Payroll employment in the trucking industry grew for the sixth straight month in July as for-hire trucking companies added 1,300 new jobs, according to preliminary estimates released Friday, Aug. 5. Meanwhile, payroll employment for the entire U.S. economy beat analysts expectations at 117,000 new jobs, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

Compared to July 2010, trucking employment is up by 43,000, or 3.5 percent. Payroll employment is up by 27,900 jobs, or 2.2 percent, in 2011 and by 56,600 jobs, or 4.6 percent, since the bottom of trucking employment in March 2010. The number of trucking jobs — 1.283 million — remains far below the peak 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.