U.S. transportation sector adds another 3,500 jobs in March

Transportation and logistics employment showed continued growth in March 2017 following a revised gain of 8,100 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 March 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 a revised gain of 8,100 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 March were led by the trucking and air transportation segments, which grew employment by 4,700 positions and 2,000 jobs, respectively, from the previous month.
   Those increases were offset slightly by a 2,300-job decline in the transit and ground passenger transportation sector, a 1,200-position decrease in the courier and messenger segment, and minor drops in the rail and warehousing and storage sectors, each down 200 jobs, and pipeline transportation, down 100 jobs.
   Water transportation employment was flat in March.
   Overall, the U.S. added 98,000 jobs in March compared with a revised 219,000-job gain the previous month. Slowing employment could be another negative indicator for the U.S. economy after a “third” preliminary estimate from the Department of Commerce late last month showed gross domestic product – the broadest measure of an individual economy – rose just 2.1 percent during fourth quarter 2016, down from a revised 3.5 percent advance in the third quarter, but up from the 1.4 percent growth rate seen in the second quarter and 0.8 percent increase in the first quarter.