Economic Watch: Unemployment Dips Overall and for Trucking
The nation’s unemployment rate continues moving lower inch-by-inch, hitting a five-year low, according to the U.S. Labor Department. It fell to 7.2% in September compared to 7.3% in August.
The nation’s unemployment rate continues moving lower inch-by-inch, hitting a five-year low, according to the U.S. Labor Department.
It fell to 7.2% in September compared to 7.3% in August, due to a net increase of nearly 150,000 jobs with 20,000 of those coming from the construction sector while government payrolls increased by 22,000 jobs with transportation and warehousing gaining 23,400 jobs. For-hire trucking added 1,000 jobs in September with the level of employment being 2% higher than a year earlier.
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Also average hourly pay for all non-farm workers moved up slightly to $24.09 a 2.1% increase from a year ago and ahead of the 1.5% inflation rate.
The jobless rate has fallen by 0.7% point since the start of the year.
Despite the decline in unemployment rate, more than 11 million people are still looking for jobs with many analysts referring to this new report as a mixed bag to disappointing due to expectations of better job creation following the net addition of 193,000 jobs in August.
The report was delayed more than two-weeks, due to the recent partial shutdown of the federal government earlier this month
Listen as transportation attorney and TruckSafe Consulting President Brandon Wiseman joins the HDT Talks Trucking podcast to unpack the “regulatory turbulence” of last year and what it means for trucking fleets in 2026.
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