President Donald J. Trump speaks with military service personnel Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020, during a Thanksgiving video teleconference call from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
At The Wall Street Journal, Jennifer Smith reports on the logistics jobs boom that has followed the spike in e-commerce as Americans avoid stores. President Trump’s efforts to keep as many pieces of America’s economy open as possible has led to a cavalcade of trucks moving goods and materials around America to feed the economic recovery. Smith writes:
Messenger and courier companies led November job gains in logistics with 81,900 new positions, as parcel carriers that deliver packages to homes and businesses added capacity to meet a pandemic-driven flood of online orders. It was the largest monthly increase for package delivery companies since September 1997, pushing their overall payrolls to more than 1 million for the first time.
United Parcel Service Inc. this week imposed temporary restrictions on package pickups for some big retailers during one of the busiest shipping weeks of the year. The limits suggest the delivery giant is metering volumes through its network to preserve performance as it and rival FedEx Corp. contend with unprecedented demand from homebound shoppers. E-commerce spending rose by 53% in November from the same month a year earlier, according to data from Mastercard Inc.
The e-commerce boom is also boosting employment at warehousing and storage operators, which include fulfillment centers that handle online orders. The sector added 36,800 jobs in November, its fourth straight monthly increase.
Demand for workers to drive forklifts, pick and pack orders, and handle shipping and receiving is at “historic highs,” said Greg Dyer, president of commercial staffing for Randstad US, a subsidiary of Dutch recruiting firm Randstad Holding NV. “We’re up 60% from the same time last year.”
Trucking companies also saw strong payroll gains in November, adding 12,700 jobs. Fleet payrolls are up by 43,800 positions since April, when the industry shed 92,000 jobs as lockdowns aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus shut down much of the U.S. economy. Trucking payrolls remain about 55,400 jobs below their level a year ago, according to BLS figures.
