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7,500 trucking jobs lost in October
By Avery Vise
Payroll employment among for-hire trucking companies in October dropped 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from September levels – slightly more than the decline the month before. Employment is down 9.3 percent from October 2008, according to preliminary figures released Friday, Nov. 6, by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
With the estimated 7,500 jobs lost in October, the trucking industry has lost more than 91,000 jobs since the end of 2008 – a decline of 6.8 percent. Job cuts since July 2008 – just before the current decline – total 141,400. 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.
Seasonally adjusted trucking employment peaked in January 2007 at more than 1.45 million, according to BLS figures. Since then, for-hire trucking companies have shed 204,800 jobs, or 14.1 percent.
In October, the decline in trucking employment significantly outpaced that in the entire U.S. economy. Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 190,000 jobs or 0.1 percent from September to October on a seasonally adjusted basis. Compared to September 2008, nonfarm payroll employment is down 4 percent.
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