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Transportation sector unemployment still lingers above pre-pandemic rate

August rate of 6.4% was 50% lower than the same month in 2020, but covid recovery not complete.

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Supply Chain Quarterly Staff
By Supply Chain Quarterly StaffSep 07, 2021
Supply Chain Quarterly Staff
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Unemployment in the transportation sector fell steeply from this time a year ago, but still remains stubbornly above pre-pandemic levels, federal statistics show.

The unemployment rate in the U.S. transportation sector was 6.4% (not seasonally adjusted) in August 2021, according to Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That rate was down more than 50% from August 2020’s 13% but remains above the 4.8% rate in pre-pandemic August 2019.

That unemployment rate is far below the transportation sector’s Covid-19 peak of 15.7% set in both May and July 2020. By comparison, the overall U.S. unemployment rate hit a Covid-19 peak of 14.4% in April 2020.

Looking at the entire U.S. economy, the overall U.S. unemployment rate in August was 5.2% (seasonally adjusted), down 38% from August 2020’s 8.4%.


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bureau of transportation statistics
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bureau of transportation statistics

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