Trucking adds 100 payroll jobs in December, economy’s total gains below expectations

jan 2014 employmentThe for-hire trucking industry added only 100 new payroll jobs on a net basis in December, according to latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the final month of 2013 had a tough act to follow: the industry added 8,400 jobs in November. The trucking jobs total had been essentially flat since April.

The U.S. economy overall added 74,000 net new jobs, dropping the national unemployment rate 6.7 percent.

The 1.3956 million payroll jobs in for-hire trucking is up by 24,800 jobs, or 1.8 percent, from December 2012. Trucking employment is up by 161,600, or 13.1 percent, from the bottom in March 2010, but it remains 57,800 jobs, or 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.

Due to high turnover rates, the BLS estimates may overstate the number of job positions due to the methodology used in the agency’s Current Employment Survey.