Weekly Transportation Update: U.S. adds 216,000 payroll jobs in December

Labor market data dominated the releases with the Bureau of Labor Statistics issuing payroll employment figures for December and job openings for November. The market remains solid, although BLS revised earlier estimates downward.

•  The unemployment rate holds at 3.7%; the labor participation rate falls.
•  Job openings change little in November and are still the lowest since March 2021. 
•  Spot rates for van equipment soar as expected during 2023’s final week.
•  Rail and intermodal volumes end 2023 higher than the same 2022 week.