In this week’s Trucking Market Update podcast, Avery Vise unpacks what’s happening in trucking jobs, spot rates, and the broader economy. Here are the quick takeaways from Episode 330:
For-hire trucking payrolls slipped by 900 in August, but earlier months were revised higher. Specialized carriers were the bright spot, adding nearly 3,000 jobs across June and July. We’ll know more once BLS releases its benchmark revisions later this week.
For more insights like these, be sure to catch the FTR Trucking Market Update podcast each week, where we break down the latest trends shaping freight and driver capacity. 📊 Download the full podcast deck and listen to Episode 330 at ftrintel.com/trucking-podcast.
Labor Day brought the usual seasonal swings:
Mortgage rates fell to their lowest since last October, the ISM Manufacturing Index showed continued contraction (though slightly better), and gold imports surged more than 1,000% as buyers rushed ahead of new tariffs.
The broader labor market raised red flags: the U.S. added just 22,000 jobs in August, the weakest monthly gain since 2020. The unemployment rate climbed to 4.3%—its highest in nearly four years—while most industries outside of healthcare and leisure shed jobs.
🎧 Catch the full conversation and download the charts here: ftrintel.com/trucking-podcast