(The following appeared on the Progressive Railroading website on April 29, 2010.)
In March, U.S. Class Is employed slightly more workers, marking the second-straight month they posted a small workforce gain. As of mid-March, the large roads’ workforce stood at 147,996, up 1.1 percent from February’s level, according to Surface Transportation Board (STB) data. However, the workforce shrank 4.5 percent on a year-over-year basis.
The transportation (train and engine) workforce of 57,807 registered the largest month-over-month gain at 2.6 percent, but the Class Is’ largest workforce segment declined 3.5 percent compared with March 2009’s total. Maintenance-of-way and structures ranks numbering 33,466 increased 1.9 percent from February’s level and dropped 3.5 percent from March 2009’s count.
The number of executives, officials and staff assistants also rose from February’s level, inching up 0.2 percent to 8,996. In addition, the workforce segment decreased on a year-over-year basis — and by the largest margin, 10.2 percent.
The transportation (other than T&E) workforce of 6,418 fell 5.8 percent from February’s level and 9.7 percent from March 2009’s count. Maintenance-of-equipment and stores workers totaled 28,036, down 0.1 percent on a month-over-month basis and 5.8 percent on a year-over-year basis. Meanwhile, professional and administrative staff numbered 13,243, down 0.2 percent from February’s total and 2.1 percent from March 2009’s level.