Parcel carriers and delivery firms added 4,200 jobs last month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its June jobs report. The boost brought overall employment in that sector to 666,500 jobs, the highest point since December 2016, when e-commerce sales surged ahead of the holidays.
The gains came even as hiring for transportation companies tied more closely to industrial demand pulled back last month. Trucking companies and railroads cut a combined 2,200 jobs last month, in the second straight monthly pullback.
Those drops come as transportation companies pulling out of a prolonged freight-market slump are still struggling to align capacity with demand. “Trucking should be expanding soon because things are getting tight,” said Noel Perry, an economist with Truckstop.com.
Robust overall U.S. job growth in June was powered by expansion in the service sector, which added some 162,000 positions in fields such as healthcare, financial services and food services. Construction also grew, adding 16,000 jobs, primarily among specialty trade contractors.
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