The unemployment rate in the U.S. transportation sector reached 4.7% in September 2026, exceeding the overall national unemployment rate and rising from 4.3% a year earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
The overall U.S. unemployment rate in September was 4.0%, placing the transportation sector 0.7 percentage points higher. When adjusted for seasonal factors, the overall U.S. rate was 4.2%.
Employment in the transportation and warehousing sector totaled 6,608,700 in September (seasonally adjusted), roughly unchanged from August but down from September 2025. Truck transportation employment reached 1,473,100, while transit and ground passenger transportation climbed to 500,800, up 2.3% from the prior year. Air transportation was 568,500, down slightly from a year earlier, and rail transportation fell to 148,900, down 3.1% year-over-year.
Warehousing and storage employment, a major component of the broader transportation sector, declined to 1,831,800 in September.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, transportation sector unemployment peaked at 15.7% in May and July 2020, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.