Warehouse Hiring Jumped in October
Warehousing companies added 5,100 jobs last month, defying a weak labor market in much of the rest of the transportation and logistics sector
Warehouse hiring rose in October. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Warehousing companies added 5,100 jobs in October, the Labor Department said Friday, the strongest employment growth in the sector since July in a sign of the growing impact of e-commerce in logistics hiring.
The expansion in the warehousing and storage jobs, part of a strong national jobs report for October, came as hiring at trucking, railroad and other shipping-related businesses slowed or contracted from September to October.
But warehousing and storage businesses have added 18,200 jobs since June, and 46,100 jobs over the past 12 months.
The overall economy added 271,000 jobs in October from the month before, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, led by strong gains in retail, healthcare and the travel industry.
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The hiring in the warehouse sector suggests the impact of growing e-commerce sales.Amazon.com, which has been on a hiring binge this year, recently said it would hire 100,000 temporary workers to handle projected growth during the holiday season, outpacing the seasonal hiring at both United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp.
The trucking industry added just 400 jobs in October after hiring declined in September and the railroad industry lost 200 jobs, part of a broader decline of 2,100 jobs in transportation and warehousing, a catchall category in the Bureau of Labor Statistics report that includes freight and passenger companies.
The larger gain in national jobs showed the retail and manufacturing sectors heading in different directions. Retail jobs expanded 43,800 in October, led by 19,500 additional jobs in clothing sales.
Manufacturing employment was flat in October on a seasonally-adjusted basis, and several industrial segments that push raw materials and parts to factories were down or flat from September to October.
