Trucking Adds 4,200 Jobs, Unemployment Rate Unchanged at 7.8%
Trucking added 4,200 jobs in December as the U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.8%, matching the lowest in almost four years, the Labor Department said Friday.
Employers added 155,000 jobs in December, topping analysts’ median forecast of 152,000, Bloomberg reported. The 7.8% rate is the lowest since December 2008.
November’s jobs increase was revised up to 161,000 from an originally reported 146,000. Revisions to prior reports added 14,000 jobs in the past two months, Bloomberg reported.
The transportation and warehousing sector, of which trucking is a part, lost 600 jobs in December, Labor Department figures showed.
Private payrolls, which exclude government agencies, rose to 168,000, topping analysts’ 155,000 median forecast, Bloomberg reported.
Factory payrolls increased by 25,000 for the month, the most since March. Construction jobs increased by 30,000.
The payroll and unemployment figures are obtained by separate surveys, with payrolls from a survey of employers and the unemployment rate from a survey of households.
