January 2025 U.S. Transportation Sector Unemployment (3.6%) falls below the January 2024 Level

Feb 10, 2025

The unemployment rate in the U.S. transportation sector was 3.6% (not seasonally adjusted) in January 2025 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 January 2025, the transportation sector unemployment rate fell 1.1 percentage points from 4.7% in January 2024 and was below the pre-pandemic January 2019 level of 4.0%. 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 lower than overall unemployment. BLS reports that the U.S. unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, in January 2025 was 4.4% or 0.8 percentage points above the transportation sector rate. Seasonally adjusted, the U.S. unemployment rate in January 2025 was 4.0%.

Line graph of transportation sector and US total unemployment rate from January 2019 to January 2025

Seasonally adjusted, employment in the transportation and warehousing sector remained virtually unchanged at 6,711,400 in January 2025 from the previous month but up 1.9% from January 2024. Employment in transportation and warehousing grew 20.1% in January 2025 from the pre-pandemic January 2019 level of 5,587,600. By mode (seasonally adjusted):

Air transportation rose to 569,400 in January 2025 — up 0.2% from the previous month and up 1.5% from January 2024.
Truck transportation rose to 1,521,900 in January 2025 — up 0.3% from the previous month but down 0.7% from January 2024.
Transit and ground passenger transportation rose to 490,100 in January 2025 — up 0.8% from the previous month and up 7.2% from January 2024.
Rail transportation rose to 156,300 in January 2025 — up 0.6% from the previous month but down 0.5% from January 2024.
Water transportation fell to 69,500 in January 2025 — down 0.1% from the previous month but up 0.6% from January 2024.
Pipeline transportation fell to 54,500 in January 2025 — down 3.0% from the previous month and down 0.2% from January 2024.
Warehousing and storage fell to 1,838,200 in January 2025 — down 0.2% from the previous month but up 0.2% from January 2024.

Line chart of transportation employment by mode from January 2019 to January 2025

NOTES: January 2019 and January 2025 employment (seasonally adjusted) not shown for water (65,700 and 69,500, respectively) or pipeline (50,800 and 54,500, 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 March 2022 (1,943,100); and water June 2024 (71,400)

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

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

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; 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.