U.S. Transportation Sector Unemployment Rate of 3.6% in May 2023 Was Below the May 2022 Level of 4.5% And Was Below the Pre-Pandemic May Level of 4.3% in 2019
The unemployment rate in the U.S. transportation sector was 3.6% (not seasonally adjusted) in May 2023 according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data recently updated on the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Unemployment in Transportation dashboard. The May 2023 rate fell 0.9 percentage points from 4.5% in May 2022 and was below the pre-pandemic May level of 4.3% in May 2019. 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 above overall unemployment. BLS reports that the U.S. unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, in May 2023 was 3.4% or 0.2 percentage points below the transportation sector rate. Seasonally adjusted, the U.S. unemployment rate in May 2023 was 3.7%.
In addition to the update of the Unemployment in Transportation dashboard, BTS also released its monthly update to its Employment in Transportation: Total, by Mode, and Women, and Race and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity of Transportation Workers dashboards.
Charts Updated this Month by Section include:
Unemployment in the Transportation and Warehousing Sector and in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations
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
Monthly Employment in the Transportation and Warehousing Sector by Race and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity, Household Data
Visit Transportation Economic Trends for more topics.
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; in other words, either working or actively looking for work. Unemployed persons count only those who have 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.
For the unemployed, industry is based on the last job they held; this may or may not reflect their current area of job search.
BTS Updates National Transportation Statistics 06/02/2023
Friday, June 2, 2023
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released its monthly update to National Transportation Statistics (NTS), a guide to historical national-level transportation trends.
This month’s updated data tables include General Aviation Profile, Truck Profile, U.S. Ton-Miles of Freight, and New and Used Passenger Car Sales and Leases.
U.S. Airlines’ April 2023 Fuel Consumption Back to Pre-pandemic Levels; Fuel Cost per Gallon up 29.3% from Pre-pandemic level, Down Substantially from the June 2022 Recent-high of $4.04
The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today released U.S. airlines’ April 2023 fuel cost and consumption numbers indicating U.S. scheduled service airlines used 1.484 billion gallons of fuel, 3.9% less fuel than in March 2023 (1.545 billion gallons) and 0.1% less than in pre-pandemic April 2019. The cost per gallon of fuel in April 2023 ($2.66) was down 26 cents (8.8%) from March 2023 ($2.91) and up $0.60 (29.3%) from April 2019. Total April 2023 fuel expenditure ($3.94B) was down 12.4% from March 2023 ($4.50B) and up 29.1% from pre-pandemic April 2019.
Year-over-year changes in fuel consumption and cost for April 2023 include 6.8% increase in domestic fuel consumption, 20.6% decrease in domestic fuel cost, and 25.6% decrease in cost per gallon. Domestic fuel consumption decreased 6.4% from March 2023 to April 2023, while increasing 0.5% from April 2019. Increased fuel consumption reflects an increase in airline passenger travel over the same period.
Fuel consumed by U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service:
April 2019: 1.49 billion gallons
April 2022: 1.35 billion gallons
March 2023: 1.55 billion gallons
April 2023: 1.48 billion gallons
Fuel cost per gallon for U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service:
April 2019: $2.06
April 2022: $3.59
March 2023: $2.91
April 2023: $2.66
Total fuel cost for U.S. airlines (total) scheduled service:
April 2019: $3.06 billion
April 2022: $4.82 billion
March 2023: $4.50 billion
April 2023: $3.94 billion
Fuel Cost and Consumption data from March 2000 to the present can be found at https://transtats.bts.gov/fuel.asp. Summaries by month are also available.
Airline fuel costs may be affected by hedging, contracts that allow airlines to limit exposure to future price changes.
Individual airline numbers through December 2022 are available on the BTS website.
Please Note:
The information provided within BTS statistical releases may not be based on 100% of reporting carriers. Generally, data are released per schedule if reports have been received from at least 90% of the carriers, along with data from all the major carriers. Regarding this release, the following carriers remain pending: Elite Airways (2HQ). Also, within text, percent change results may not be exact due to rounding.
Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA)
Congress passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA 22) in June 2022. Section 16 of the congressional mandate requires the Bureau of Transportation Statistics to produce statistics on “the total street dwell time from all causes of marine containers and chassis and the average out of service percentage of chassis.”
OSRA 22 grants BTS authority to collect data from “each port, marine terminal operator, and chassis owner or provider with a fleet of over 50 chassis that supply chassis for a fee” as deemed necessary to produce statistics. The results from the initial data collection will be published by February 10, 2023, and every month thereafter until the sunset of the program in December 2026.