Unemployment in the U.S. transportation sector fell in February but was higher than the overall U.S. unemployment rate, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, released today.
The transportation unemployment rate was 4.7% in February 2025, not seasonally adjusted, which was down 1.2% from February 2024. The overall U.S. unemployment rate was 4.5%, not seasonally adjusted, in February.
February’s transportation sector numbers were higher than the February 2019 pre-pandemic level of 4.3%., but well below the pandemic high of 15.7% in May and July of 2020.
Seasonally adjusted, the U.S. unemployment rate in February 2025 was 4.1%.
Seasonally adjusted, employment in transportation and warehousing rose to more than 6.7 million in February 2025 — up 0.3% from the previous month and up 2.2% from February 2024. Employment in transportation and warehousing grew 21.3% in February 2025 from the pre-pandemic February 2019 level of nearly 5.6 million.
