Transportation and logistics companies cut 9,400 positions last month, following revised increases of 3,600 in May and 10,100 in April, according to recent preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Labor.
United States transportation and logistics companies cut 9,400 jobs for the month in June 2016, according to the latest preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The decrease in U.S. transportation sector hiring follows four consecutive monthly increases. Revised BLS data indicates the industry added 3,600 positions in May, 10,100 in April, 5,700 in March and 400 in February.
Job losses in the sector during June were led by the trucking and ground passenger transportation segments, which cut employment by 6,300 and 6,000 positions, respectively.
Those declines were offset in part by continued growth in the warehousing and storage sector, which added 4,700 jobs after revised increases of 5,000 positions in May, 6,700 in April and 1,700 in March.
The courier and messenger industry also continued to showed growth, up 1,300 jobs, as did the air and water transportation sectors, up 800 and 300 jobs, respectively, from the previous month.
The rail sector, on the other hand, continued to slash jobs in May, cutting another 1,600 positions after losing 800 jobs in May, 2,200 in April and 1,500 in March, as railroads continue to adjust to falling volumes in coal, crude oil and other energy-related commodities.
Overall, however, the U.S. added 287,000 jobs in May, which could be another positive indicator for the U.S. economy after a “third” preliminary estimate from the Department of Commerce last week showed gross domestic product – the broadest measure of an individual economy – rose 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2016 instead of just 0.8 percent as predicted previously.
U.S. transportation sector slashes jobs in June
