About the Transportation and Warehousing sector
The transportation and warehousing sector is part of the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector.
The Transportation and Warehousing sector includes industries providing transportation of passengers and cargo, warehousing and storage for goods, scenic and sightseeing transportation, and support activities related to modes of transportation. Establishments in these industries use transportation equipment or transportation related facilities as a productive asset. The type of equipment depends on the mode of transportation. The modes of transportation are air, rail, water, road, and pipeline.
North American Industry Classification System
The transportation and warehousing sector consists of these subsectors:
Workforce Statistics
This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in transportation and warehousing.
While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households.
The following tables present an overview of the industry including
the number of jobs,
the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry,
union membership and representation,
gross job gains and losses,
data for occupations common to the industry,
and projections of occupational employment change.
Employment and Unemployment
| Data series | Back data |
Dec. 2019 |
Jan. 2020 |
Feb. 2020 |
Mar. 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Employment (in thousands) |
|||||
|
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted) |
|
5,655.9 | 5,678.5 | 5,677.3 | 5,672.4 |
|
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees (seasonally adjusted) |
|
4,957.1 | 4,963.5 | 4,959.3 | 4,948.6 |
|
Unemployment |
|||||
|
Unemployment rate |
|
2.8% | 3.3% | 3.8% | 5.4% |
(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey
Union Membership and Representation
| Data series | Back data |
2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Union membership and representation |
|||||
|
Members of unions (percent of wage and salary workers) |
|
18.4% | 17.3% | 16.7% | 16.1% |
|
Represented by unions (percent of wage and salary workers) |
|
20.0% | 18.8% | 17.9% | 17.6% |
(Source: Current Population Survey)
Dynamic Changes in Employment
| Data series | Back data |
3rd quarter 2018 |
4th quarter 2018 |
1st quarter 2019 |
2nd quarter 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Dynamic changes in employment (in thousands) |
|||||
|
Gross job gains |
|
313 | 421 | 281 | 308 |
|
Gross job losses |
|
256 | 239 | 346 | 267 |
(Source: Business Employment Dynamics)
Employment by Occupation
| Data series | Employment, 2019 |
|---|---|
|
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers |
79,740 |
|
Bus drivers, school |
|
|
Railroad conductors and yardmasters |
41,550 |
|
Sailors and marine oilers |
22,490 |
|
Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer |
1,076,950 |
(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)
Projections
For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and