The push to bring in more truck drivers may be starting to yield results.
In the June employment report released Friday morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, total jobs in truck transportation on a seasonally adjusted basis rose 6,400 jobs in June to 1,486,500 jobs. That figure in recent months has risen by only a small amount or in some cases declined, despite the help wanted signs, higher pay and sign-on bonuses in truck carriers all over the country.
The number for not-seasonally adjusted jobs was even more eye-opening. In that category, jobs rose 24,500 jobs for the month to 1,501,600 jobs. Economists tend to look primarily at seasonally adjusted numbers, but recently some have cautioned that seasonal adjustments in a market suffering from the impact of a pandemic may be less reliable than in the past, and non-seasonally adjusted numbers should carry more weight than previously.
Warehousing and storage employment also has been lagging but took a significant upturn in June. Seasonally adjusted jobs in that field were up 13,600 to 1,428,400 jobs.
Not-seasonally adjusted figures were up almost 9,300 to 1,405,000.
FreightWaves will have further coverage of the employment figures later in the day.
More articles by John Kingston
Tearing down key interstate connection in Syracuse getting more likely
Latest Drivewyze offering speeds up inspection process at weigh stations