U.S. transportation sector hiring rebounds in October

Transportation and logistics companies added 7,500 positions last month, following a revised 3,100-job loss in September, according to recent preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Labor.    United States transportation and logistics companies added 7,000 jobs for the month in October 2016, 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 decrease of 3,100 jobs in September, and increases of 18,600 and 12,200 positions in August and July, respectively. Revised BLS data indicates the industry cut 6,700 jobs in June after four consecutive monthly increases, adding 4,500 positions in May, 10,100 in April, 5,700 in March and 400 in February.
   Job gains in the sector during October were led by the warehouse and storage segment, which grew employment by 3,300 positions. Increases were also seen in the truck, air, courier and messenger, and rail transportation industries, up 3,000, 2,500, 1,500, and 400 jobs, respectively, from the previous month.
    Although only a modest increase, the jump in rail hiring in the U.S. rail industry came as a bit of a surprise as the sector has steadily cut employment over the past year as railroads continued to adjust to falling volumes in coal, crude oil and other energy-related commodities.
   Those increases were offset in part by declines in the water and pipeline transportation sectors, down 1,100 and 200 jobs, respectively, for the month. Pipeline transportation hiring was flat in September.
   Overall, the U.S. added 147,000 jobs in October, which could be another 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 2.9 percent during third quarter 2016, up from a revised 0.8 percent advance in the first quarter and the 1.4 percent growth rate in the second quarter.