U.S. Class I workforce grew a bit in October

The U.S. Class Is' hiring binge carried over into last month. As of mid-October, the large railroads employed 169,224 people, up 0.3 percent from September's level and 3.8 percent from October 2013's count, according to Surface Transportation Board data.

On a month-over-month basis, the maintenance-of-way and structures workforce was relatively flat at 37,278, but the other five employment categories posted the following gains: transportation (train and engine), 0.6 percent to 70,722; professional and administrative staff, 0.4 percent to 14,213; transportation (other than train and engine), 0.3 percent to 6,719; executives, officials and staff assistants, 0.2 percent to 9,967; and maintenance of equipment and stores, 0.1 percent to 30,325.

On a year-over-year basis, the maintenance-of-way and structures workforce also was flat while the transportation (other than T&E) workforce declined 0.3 percent. But the number of transportation (T&E) employees jumped 7.3 percent, number of professional and administrative staffers rose 2.9 percent, number of maintenance of equipment and stores workers grew 2.7 percent, and number of executives, officials and staff assistants increased 1.8 percent.