U.S. transportation employment growth continues in April

The transportation and logistics sector added 3,500 jobs in April 2017 following revised gains of 6,600 jobs in March and 7,600 positions in February, according to recent preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Labor.    United States transportation and logistics companies added another 3,500 jobs for the month in April 2017, according to the latest preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
   The increase in U.S. transportation sector hiring follows revised gains of 6,600 jobs in March and 7,600 positions in February and a 10,200-job loss in January.
   For the full year in 2016, transportation and warehousing companies added 62,000 jobs, down from a 110,000-job increase in 2015.
   Job gains in the sector during April were led by the courier, warehousing and air transportation segments, which grew employment by 3,200, 2,500 and 500 jobs, respectively, from the previous month.
   Those increases were offset slightly by a 4,400-job decline in the transit and ground passenger transportation sector and minor drops in rail, pipeline, and truck transportation, down 500, 400, and 100 jobs, respectively.
   Water transportation employment was flat in April.
   Overall, the U.S. added 211,000 jobs in April compared with a revised 79,000-job gain the previous month. A rebound in employment growth could be a positive indicator for the U.S. economy after an “advance” preliminary estimate from the Department of Commerce late last month showed gross domestic product – the broadest measure of an individual economy – rose just 0.7 percent during first quarter 2017, down from a 1.6 percent advance in 2016 and a 2.6 percent growth rate the previous year.