The April employment numbers are here. FreightWaves reports show that hiring hit low numbers even as warehousing growth occurred. Hiring numbers were high in March, when the industry added 7,000 jobs. The numbers went so low in April. They say numbers do not lie. The only way to see how well something is doing is to check the numbers in detail.

Hiring in Numbers

The numbers are a clear indicator of industry-wide uncertainty. They recorded just a 1400 increase in jobs in April. The increase in April is very small. The numbers in the report also had some issues. They were revised even further downward. The industry is at a point of change; not trending is the best direction. The initial March numbers stood at 1.525 million. After the adjustment, the numbers came down to 1.523 million. Even compared to previous years, the April numbers were too low. Compared to April 2023, the April numbers were down by 3.2%. Going further, to the all-time peak in July 2022, the April numbers were down by 3.9%. The rail transport also put hiring on hold. They just added 100 employees from March to April.  

The status of warehousing

While hiring in transportation has been low, warehousing is growing. The Trump administration has brought some changes. The changes are around trade tariffs. If everything stays as is, the tariffs will be quite high. Trading with the U.S as an outsider would become quite expensive. That is the main reason some traders do not leave things to chance. Most have brought their freight forward to avoid the inevitable higher tariffs. Inventories have grown in the recent past. At the same time, employment in the warehousing sector has increased. They added 9800 jobs in April. Seasonal adjustments also show a massive growth in numbers.  

It is quite clear that shippers have become quite proactive. Trade wars are not a joke. The proposed tariffs are prompting shippers to build up stock to avoid the inevitable. They want to bring forward all the purchases in their pipeline. In doing so, they will avoid the rapid price increases expected due to the tariffs. Regardless of the cause, warehousing and storage have grown. The numbers will keep going high even if it is an anomaly. Until there is stability and an agreement between the nations facing off, the numbers will seem abnormal. Shippers can only do sensible things and business early, before things get out of control. At the same time, they also hope that the conflicting nations will agree.