NOV '24 US Transport Unemployment Up Again, now above Pre-Pandemic benchmark

December 6, 2024

The unemployment rate in the U.S. transportation sector was 4.8% (not seasonally adjusted) in November 2024 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

These data have been updated on the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS) Unemployment in Transportation dashboard. In November 2024, the transportation sector unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points from 4.5% in November 2023 and was above the pre-pandemic November 2019 level of 3.3%. Unemployment in the transportation sector reached its highest level during the COVID-19 pandemic (15.7%) in May 2020 and July 2020.

Unemployment in the transportation sector was higher than overall unemployment. BLS reports that the U.S. unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, in November 2024 was 4.0% or 0.8 percentage points below the transportation sector rate. Seasonally adjusted, the U.S. unemployment rate in November 2024 was 4.2%.

Seasonally adjusted, employment in the transportation and warehousing sector rose to 6,627,200 in November 2024 — up 0.1% from the previous month and up 1.4% from November 2023. Employment in transportation and warehousing grew 15.5% in November 2024 from the pre-pandemic November 2019 level of 5,735,900. By mode (seasonally adjusted):

Air transportation rose to 574,800 in November 2024 — up 0.1% from the previous month and up 1.6% from November 2023.
Truck transportation rose to 1,548,700 in November 2024 — up 0.2% from the previous month but down 0.1% from November 2023.
Transit and ground passenger transportation rose to 454,700 in November 2024 — up 0.4% from the previous month and up 5.7% from November 2023.
Rail transportation remained virtually unchanged in November 2024 at 150,000 from the previous month but down 1.8% from November 2023.
Water transportation fell to 73,600 in November 2024 — down 0.5% from the previous month but up 3.7% from November 2023.
Pipeline transportation rose to 54,600 in November 2024 — up 0.4% from the previous month and up 4.8% from November 2023.
Warehousing and storage fell to 1,772,200 in November 2024 — down 0.1% from the previous month but remained unchanged from November 2023.

NOTES: November 2019 and November 2024 employment (seasonally adjusted) are not shown for water (67,700 and 73,600, respectively) or pipeline (51,900 and 54,600, respectively) transportation. All-time highs (seasonally adjusted) with records beginning in 1990: air March 2001 (633,600); pipeline July 1991 (61,200); rail January 1990 (278,100); transit June 2019 (503,900); truck July 2022 (1,587,900); warehousing and storage May 2022 (1,942,200); and water June 2024 (75,800).

In addition to updating the Unemployment in Transportation and the Employment in Transportation: Total, by Mode, and Women dashboards, BTS also updated the Race and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity of Transportation Workers dashboard.

Charts updated this month by section include:

Unemployment in the Transportation and Warehousing Sector and in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations
Total Unemployment in Transportation
Unemployed Men and Women Workers in Transportation
Monthly Employment in the Transportation and Warehousing Sector, Establishment Data
Monthly Employment in the Transportation and Warehousing Sector
Monthly Employment in the Transportation and Warehousing Sector by Mode
Women Workers in the Transportation and Warehousing Sector

The unemployment rate is the total number of unemployed persons, expressed as a percentage of the civilian labor force. The civilian labor force includes all persons aged 16 and older who are employed and unemployed; meaning they are either currently working or actively looking for work. Unemployed persons include those who actively sought a job within the last four weeks. People waiting to start a new job who have not actively sought a job in the last four weeks are not counted as employed or unemployed; they are considered to be out of the labor force.

An unemployed person’s industry is the industry for the last job they held in the workforce, which may or may not reflect their current job search field or industry.