Department of Labor Announces that Jobs Continue to Grow

In December, Secretary of Labor Elaine Cho announced that the United States has seen “51 consecutive months of job growth — the longest uninterrupted period of job growth since employment surveys have been taken.”

Secretary Cho explained that “Ninety-four thousand net new jobs were created in November, and the unemployment rate held steady at a low 4.7%, better than market forecasts.”

Despite these rosy announcements in the labor pool overall, the number of people employed in “transportation and material moving” occupations decreased by 5,000 jobs over the one year span from December 2006 to December 2007. The unemployment rate for the transportation sector increased during this time period from 5.9% to 6.0 %. The transportation industry remains more than a full point above the national average for unemployment rates.