Favorable jobs reports indicate America is hiring at a robust pace, but driving truck took a backseat to warehouse positions.
“One thing we can feel confident in despite the survey changes is that we now know for certain that there are more warehousing and storage jobs in the U.S. than truck transportation jobs — a trend that has been gradually emerging over the past decade,” Aaron Terrazas, director of economic research at Convoy, reportedly said.
All told, the country added upwards of 467,000 jobs during January, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Hirings for the previous two months were also adjusted to reflect increased employment of about 700,000 higher than initially estimated.
“Workers have more incentive to return to the labor market than they did a year ago due to the prospect for a bigger paycheck, a rundown in pandemic savings, and an improving health situation,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The labor-force participation rate, or the share of the population working or seeking a job, rose to 62.2 percent last month, the highest level since the pandemic hit in early 2020.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data reportedly indicates that truck transportation, couriers, and warehouse positions experienced high-water marks in January. After reportedly adjusting its figures, the BLS information points to warehousing far outpacing trucking.
“On a seasonally adjusted basis, truck transportation, courier and messenger, and warehousing are at record employment levels as of January 2022,” Michigan State Prof. Jason Miller reportedly said.
Warehousing jobs increased by 13,400 positions to 1,728,200 jobs, as couriers and messengers rose by 21,200 jobs to 1,100,600 jobs. Unfortunately for the supply chain, truck transportation pulled up the rear with a modest increase of 7,500 jobs to 1,541,700 positions during November and December, after recent revisions. The previous record high for truck transportation positions was set in June 2019, at 1,540,200 jobs.
“The benchmark revisions helped the numbers a bit just because it moved out some of the seasonal factors that have been at work. But overall, the job market is strong, particularly in the face of omicron,” Kathy Jones, chief fixed-income strategist at Charles Schwab, reportedly said. “It’s hard to find a weak spot in this report.”
Freight hauling jobs have been steadily increasing due to higher salaries and a full-court press by the government to attract younger drivers. Splashy headlines about good-paying entry-level positions, equal opportunities for women, and six-figure annual incomes for experienced CDL holders have also piqued considerable interest. While the 81,000 truck driver shortage could be steadily declining, OTR jobs continue to lag behind. Reports indicate OTR jobs hovered around 794,400, setting a new record by only 600 drivers.
Sources: freightwaves.com, cnbc.com, wsj.com
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