Class 1 Employment Down 0.19% in September

Employment at U.S. Class 1 railroads was down 0.19 percent in mid September, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board reported.

The railroads employed 114,218 in mid-September. The comparison was with mid August totals.

On a year-over-year basis, Class 1 employment in mid September was 3.31 percent less compared to the same time period in 2020.

Five of the six workforce categories posted month-over-month employment losses in September.

This included transportation (train and engine), down 0.39 percent to 46,927 workers; executives, officials and staff assistants, down 0.32 percent to 7,248; professional and administrative, down 0.22 percent to 9,831; maintenance of equipment and stores, down 0.06 percent to 17,195; and  maintenance of way and structures, down 0.04 percent to 28,323.

Seeing a gain was transportation (other than train and engine), up 0.75 percent to 4,694 employees.

All categories suffered losses on a year-over-year comparison. This included maintenance of equipment and stores, down 8.82 percent; transportation (other than train and engine), down 6.51 percent; professional and administrative, down 4.71 percent; maintenance of way and structures, down 3.81 percent; executives, officials and staff assistants, down 2.65 percent; and transportation (train and engine), down 0.23 percent.

Tags: Class 1 railroad employment, class 1 railroads, STB employment figures, U.S. Surface Transportation Board