The unemployment rate within the U.S. transportation sector during May 2023 was 0.7% lower than the levels recorded before the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic during May 2019 according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data that was recently updated on the Bureau of Transportations Statistics (BTS) dashboard. In May 2019, the American transportation industry’s unemployment rate came in at 4.3%. Four years later, the transportation sector’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.6% in May 2023. Additionally, the U.S. transportation sector’s unemployment rate fell by 0.9% from May 2022 to May 2023.

Unfortunately, the unemployment rate within the U.S. transportation sector was higher than the country’s overall unemployment rate during May 2023 (3.6% vs. 3.4%).

The unemployment rate is the total number of unemployed individuals expressed as a percentage of the civilian labor force which includes people aged 16 or older that are either employed or actively looking for employment. Unemployed people count only as those who have actively sought out a job within the last four weeks. People waiting to start a new job within the last four weeks are considered part of the U.S. labor force.

For those that are considered unemployed, the industry they are associated with is based on the last job they held according to the BTS.