Trucking adds 10,200 jobs in February

Payroll employment in trucking surged in February as trucking companies added 10,200 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest numbers released Friday, March 9, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. February represents the largest one-month gain in trucking employment since February 2011, when the industry added 12,400 jobs. Over the most recent three months, trucking has added more than 20,000 payroll jobs, according to BLS estimates.

Hiring was brisk in the overall economy, which added 227,000 nonfarm jobs in February, according to the BLS figures. But due to population growth and, especially, more people deciding to seek employment as the economy improves, the unemployment rate held at 8.3 percent.

Payroll employment in for-hire trucking is up by 47,300, or 3.7 percent, from February 2011. Employment is up by 97,300, or 7.9 percent, from the bottom in March 2010, but it remains 121,900, or 8.4 percent, below the peak in January 2007.

The BLS numbers for trucking 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 reflect the number of employees paid during a specified payroll period during the month.