(The following appeared on the Progressive Railroading website on March 20, 2009.)
The U.S. Class I workforce entered 2009 a tad smaller. As of mid-January, the workforce stood at 159,511, a 1 percent decrease compared with mid-December’s level and 2.1 percent decline vs. January 2008’s count, according to the Surface Transportation Board’s most recent employment data.
Transportation (train and engine) ranks totaling 63,187 shrank 2.8 percent on a month-over-month basis and contracted 7 percent on a year-over-year basis. However, the transportation (other than T&E) workforce totaling 7,312 expanded 8.6 percent compared with mid-December’s level and increased 8.4 percent vs. January 2008’s count.