The New Year is off to a strong start. In January, the United States has added over 30,000 jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this is the best monthly employment performance in nearly a year. The transportation and logistics industry, in particular, has seen an impressive pace of growth, especially in areas such as warehousing and trucking jobs.
While the number of jobs increased from December, the national unemployment rate in the US also increased to 4%. This was likely due to the partial government shutdown, as furlough workers would be considered unemployed.
There was a steady increase in the transportation and logistics jobs in January, kicking off 2019 on a good note. Over the month employment rose by 27,000 in transportation and warehousing. The majority of these job gains were in warehousing and storage, with over 15,000 new jobs. Couriers and messengers also rose by about 7,000.
This is positive news as many were concerned the trucking industry was slowing down. At the beginning of January, it was reported that companies were placing fewer truck orders. Semi-truck orders were down by 43%. Some saw this slump as a sign that an economic downturn was coming as it meant retailers and manufacturers planned to move fewer goods.
However, experts in the transportation industry explained that there was currently a huge backlog for trucks. Transportation companies simply were not ordering more because they were still waiting for their orders from last year. There are around 300,000 semi-truck orders in backlog, when a normal year may have around 80,000-1000,000.
Overall, the trucking and logistics industry is thriving. Jobs and salaries in the field are increasing, as is the number of orders placed. Traffix is confident that this year will be another strong one.
If you want to learn more about how Traffix can help your company grow or if you want to join our amazing Traffix team, please feel free to contact us!
