The monthly jobs report for October came out this morning, and it shows almost 18,000 net job losses in aviation last month. This was offset by some good news in ground transportation and in heavy construction.
The report from the Labor Department says that 17,700 net jobs were lost in aviation transportation, a 4.4 percent drop from September. The drop from February (the pre-COVID month) is almost 125,000, a 24.4 percent drop.
Jobs in transit and ground passenger transportation showed a strong rebound in October, with 25,200 jobs created, a 7.1 percent increase over September. (The sector is still down over 25 percent since February, however.)
The trucking sector gained 9,600 jobs in October but is still down 4 percent from February.
Jobs in heavy construction and civil engineering (like building infrastructure) saw 1.9 percent growth in October, but are still down 6.5 percent since COVID hit (about 71,000 jobs lost).
| Excerpts from the BLS Monthly Employment Situation Report for October 2020 (Seasonally Adjusted Numbers) | |||||||||
| Thousand people employed in each month | Change (thousand) | Change (percent) | |||||||
| Feb. | August | Sept. | Oct. | Sep.-Oct. | Feb.-Oct. | Sep.-Oct. | Feb.-Oct. | ||
| Construction | |||||||||
| Heavy and civil engineering | 1,098.9 | 1,010.8 | 1,008.7 | 1,027.5 | 18.8 | -71.4 | 1.9% | -6.5% | |
| Manufacturing | |||||||||
| Transportation equipment | 1,742.9 | 1,599.1 | 1,609.0 | 1,606.6 | -2.4 | -136.3 | -0.1% | -7.8% | |
| Trade, transportation and utilities | |||||||||
| Air transportation | 511.2 | 405.9 | 404.4 | 386.7 | -17.7 | -124.5 | -4.4% | -24.4% | |
| Rail transportation | 159.9 | 145.9 | 146.1 | 145.8 | -0.3 | -14.1 | -0.2% | -8.8% | |
| Water transportation | 64.9 | 54.8 | 56.0 | 56.2 | 0.2 | -8.7 | 0.4% | -13.4% | |
| Truck transportation | 1,527.3 | 1,449.5 | 1,454.1 | 1,463.7 | 9.6 | -63.6 | 0.7% | -4.2% | |
| Transit and ground passenger transportation | 508.2 | 346.1 | 353.4 | 378.6 | 25.2 | -129.6 | 7.1% | -25.5% | |
| Pipeline transportation | 50.5 | 49.7 | 49.4 | 49.3 | -0.1 | -1.2 | -0.2% | -2.4% | |
| Scenic and sightseeing transportation | 36.7 | 21.0 | 21.8 | 23.6 | 1.8 | -13.1 | 8.3% | -35.7% | |
| Support activities for transportation | 763.8 | 679.4 | 680.7 | 688.8 | 8.1 | -75.0 | 1.2% | -9.8% | |
| Couriers and messengers | 847.8 | 927.5 | 938.3 | 946.6 | 8.3 | 98.8 | 0.9% | 11.7% | |
| Other sectors/industries of note | |||||||||
| Food services and drinking places | 12,303.1 | 9,780.1 | 10,012.6 | 10,204.8 | 192.2 | -2,098.3 | 1.9% | -17.1% | |
| Amusements, gambling, and recreation | 1,785.5 | 1,210.8 | 1,289.7 | 1,306.4 | 16.7 | -479.1 | 1.3% | -26.8% | |
| Accommodation | 2,091.0 | 1,313.3 | 1,401.1 | 1,435.3 | 34.2 | -655.7 | 2.4% | -31.4% | |
| Local government, education | 8,042.0 | 7,680.0 | 7,473.6 | 7,375.8 | -97.8 | -666.2 | -1.3% | -8.3% | |
| Local government, excluding education | 6,636.8 | 6,185.2 | 6,283.1 | 6,316.4 | 33.3 | -320.4 | 0.5% | -4.8% | |
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