Online Sales Growth Fuels Surge in Package-Delivery Jobs
August 04 2017 - 3:36PM
Dow Jones News
By Jennifer Smith
The hiring surge at package-delivery firms pushed payrolls there
to a new high in July as companies geared up to handle the
continued growth in online sales.
Courier and messenger companies added 3,200 jobs last month, the
fourth straight monthly increase, the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics said in its July jobs report released Friday. Total
employment at delivery firms reached 669,200, up from the previous
high of 668,000 in December 2016 in a sector that has benefited
from shifting consumer trends toward e-commerce and away from
stores.
But hiring at warehousing and storage companies fell last month,
cutting 2,200 jobs from June's upwardly revised figure. Industry
executives have reported difficulty in filling warehouse jobs, and
the sector has added 33,500 jobs in the past year as companies
including Amazon.com Inc. add distribution centers for online
fulfillment.
Overall warehouse payrolls fell to 949,500 in July, from the
June high of 951,700.
U.S. employers overall added 209,000 jobs in July, driven
largely by service-sector growth. Health-care employers added
39,400 jobs, while food services and drinking places gained
53,100.
Manufacturing payrolls grew by 16,000 last month, when U.S.
factory activity expanded for the 11th consecutive month, according
to the Institute for Supply Management.
Trucking companies, whose business is closely tied to industrial
demand, added 400 jobs in July as some carriers said they planned
to boost their hiring this quarter.
Truckload carrier Schneider National Inc. plans to add 300
driver jobs, the company said in an earnings call this month. Adam
Satterfield, chief financial officer at Old Dominion Freight Line
Inc., said in an earnings call last week that the carrier -- which
handles goods for multiple customers on each of its trucks --
expects to add "a couple of hundred employees" this quarter after
increasing payrolls by 1% in the second quarter even as shipments
rose more than 5%.
Logistics industry employers are already ramping up hiring in
advance of the holiday season. Amazon held job fairs at sites
around the country on Wednesday aimed at filling 50,000 new
positions, mostly at the e-commerce giant's fulfillment and
package-sorting centers.
"Demand is higher now than it was even in the peak season," said
Brian Devine, senior vice president at ProLogistix, one of the
largest logistics-staffing companies in the U.S.
Recruitment is especially challenging in transportation hubs
such as Memphis, Indianapolis and Southern California's Inland
Empire, he said. "Companies are giving significant wage-rate
increases now. They're adjusting pay to match the competitiveness
of the market," Mr. Devine said.
Write to Jennifer Smith at jennifer.smith@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 04, 2017 15:21 ET (19:21 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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