U.S. transportation employment slips in May

Transportation and logistics companies cut 500 jobs for the month, following revised increases of 10,100 in April and 5,700 in March, according to recent preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Labor.    United States transportation and logistics companies cut 500 jobs for the month in May 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 three consecutive monthly increases. Revised BLS data indicates the industry added 10,100 positions in April, 5,700 in March and 400 in February.
   Job losses in the sector during May were led by the support activities and trucking segments, which cut employment by 2,700 and 2,400 positions, respectively.
   Those declines were offset in part by continued growth in the warehousing and storage sector, which added 3,000 jobs after revised increases of 6,700 positions in April and 1,700 jobs in March.
   The courier and messenger industry also continued to showed growth, up 1,000 jobs, as did air transportation up 1,200 jobs from the previous month.
   The rail sector, on the other hand, continued to slash jobs in May, cutting another 700 positions after a 2,200-job loss in April and a 1,500-position loss in March, as railroads continue to adjust to falling volumes in coal, crude oil and other energy-related commodities.
   Overall, the U.S. added just 38,000 jobs in May, which could be another indicator of a slowing U.S. economy after a “second” preliminary estimate from the Department of Commerce last week showed gross domestic product – the broadest measure of an individual economy – rose just 0.8 percent in the first quarter of 2016.