The big increase in truck transportation jobs reported last month reversed itself in May, leading to a level of employment that is only slightly higher than it was two months ago.
May’s truck transportation employment decline
The May jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported truck transportation jobs at 1,424,800. That’s down 4,400 jobs from a slightly revised April figure. The revision in April numbers still puts it up 4,900 jobs from March, which also was revised slightly. The end result is that truck transportation employment in May was just 500 jobs more than in March, after an April report–along with anecdotal and actual reports of more hiring and a tightening market for drivers–that seemed to suggest a continuing upward move in employment was possible.
But May’s employment number for truck transportation was down 2,400 jobs from where it stood at the end of last year. It’s also down almost 23,000 jobs from May 2025.
Jump in warehouse jobs
Warehouse jobs posted their fourth straight month of higher numbers. The increase of 6,400 jobs was the largest single one-month gain since May 2024, when the data showed three consecutive months with warehouse job gains in excess of 7,000 jobs.
Total warehouse jobs of 1,824,400 were still well below the 1,875,300 jobs from a year ago. The all-time high number in that category is 1,939,300 jobs in March 2022.
Trucking numbers look stronger by sectors
Mazen Danaf, the principal economist at Uber Freight (NYSE: UBER), looked under the hood at the specific sector numbers, which are on a one-month lag. He said March totals for long-distance truckload employment was up 2,600 in March and 1,990 in April. “This growth has narrowed the year-over-year decrease to -2%, potentially signaling the onset of a recovery phase that may take several quarters,” he said.
“Consequently, shippers should remain cautious when viewing these employment upticks, as overall levels stay critically low relative to the past decade.” — Mazen Danaf, principal economist at Uber Freight (NYSE: UBER)
Strong numbers overall
The truck transportation decline comes against the backdrop of a strong monthly report overall. Aaron Terrazas, an independent economist who has worked in trucking, said the total jobs report of a gain of 172,000 in employment is the third month with such a report. And, as he said, “three months makes a trend.”
“We have now had three consecutive Job Reports that look great in the initial print, and keep looking better as time goes by,” he said in an email to FreightWaves. “Payroll gains came in well above forecasts, the unemployment rate remained stable even as new grads began entering into the job market, and payrolls for the prior two months were revised upward.” — Aaron Terrazas, independent economist
Transportation overall was “lackluster,” Terrazas said. He noted that the trucking jobs were a reversal of April’s gains and cited the two-month high in warehouse jobs. Air transportation jobs were down 8,700 jobs, which Terrazas said was likely the result of the shutdown of Spirit Airlines.
“With headline job market stats this strong, there is really no compelling case for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates,” Terrazas said. “Inflation has trended higher in both top line and core categories; the job market is rebounding despite those headwinds. The Fed’s mandate looks past sector-specific payroll softness, as long as the headline numbers chug along.” — Aaron Terrazas
Despite the drop in truck transportation employment, David Spencer, vice president of market intelligence at Arrive Logistics, said fundamental conditions in the trucking sector have not changed.
“Capacity remains constrained as carriers struggle with high fuel prices and a shifting regulatory landscape,” Spencer said in an email to FreightWaves. “Increased pressure on cabotage enforcement as of late and the recent SCOTUS ruling on broker liability are the most recent examples of how the challenges continue to develop for carriers and drivers.” — David Spencer, vice president of market intelligence at Arrive Logistics
Spencer also said the flat employment levels over the last few months could be a sign that employers are gun-shy. “Many businesses find it unsustainable to add staff after years of minimal rate growth and continuous increases in operating costs, especially with inflation fears casting doubt on the stability of future demand,” he said.
Other BLS data highlights
- Earnings and hours for production and non-supervisory employees in truck transportation continued to rise in April, setting yet another record. Wages grew to $32.41 per hour, but average hours worked fell to 40.5 from 41.1 in March. That data is on a one-month lag compared to the report of total employment.
- Hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees at warehouses was $25.98. That’s also a record. That figure rarely declines month-to-month, but it does occasionally happen.
- Rail employment rose slightly, to 149,600 jobs from 149,400 jobs. It still remains well below levels from a year ago, when employment totaled 155,400 jobs.
Source: FreightWaves
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
