STB: U.S. Class I employment dipped slightly in October

Class Is employed 146,342 workers in the United States as of mid-October, down 0.2 percent since mid-September's employment figure and down 3.7 percent compared with mid-October 2016's level, according to Surface Transportation Board (STB) data.

Five of six employment categories reflected workforce decreases last month compared with mid-September levels: Executives, officials and staff assistants, down 3.3 percent to 8,217; professional and administrative, down 1.6 percent to 12,197; maintenance of equipment and stores, down 0.6 percent to 26,567; maintenance of way and structures, down 0.6 percent to 33,270; and transportation (other than train and engine), down 0.2 percent to 5,666.

However, the number of transportation (T&E) employees ticked up 0.9 percent to 60,425.

On a year-over-year basis, five categories reflected workforce decreases: executives, officials and staff assistants at 9.6 percent; professional and administrative at 8.2 percent; maintenance of way and structures at 6.6 percent; maintenance of equipment and stores at 5.7 percent; and transportation (other than T&E) at 4.8 percent.

The number of transportation (T&E) employees rose 1.1 percent in mid-October compared with mid-October 2016's level.