advertisement

---

A rail employment development occurred in October that hadn’t happened for many months — the U.S. Class I workforce increased on both a month-over-month and year-over-year basis in just about every category.

As of mid-October, the U.S. Class Is employed a total of 154,285 people, up 0.1 percent compared with September’s level and 3.5 percent compared with October 2009’s count, according to Surface Transportation Board (STB) data.

The only workforce segment that registered a month-over-month decline — or any decline, for that matter — was transportation (other than train and engine) ranks, which dipped 0.5 percent from September’s mark to 6,565. However, the segment rose 3.2 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Compared with September levels, the number of executives/officials/staff assistants as of mid-October rose 0.4 percent to 9,120; professional and administrative staff increased 0.3 percent to 13,799; maintenance of equipment and stores staff expanded 0.3 percent to 28,294; maintenance-of-way and structures staff rose 0.2 percent to 35,056; and transportation (T&E) staff inched up 0.01 percent to 61,451.

On a year-over-year basis, most workforce segments increased from 0.2 percent to 1.4 percent, while transportation (T&E) ranks swelled 7.4 percent.

For more breakdowns on the STB’s employment data, follow this link to download a pdf file.