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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

February 2026 U.S. Transportation Sector Unemployment (4.9%) Rises Above the February 2025 Level (4.7%)

Friday, March 6, 2026
Figure is an infographic consisting of a large rectangle divided into four smaller rectangles. Upper left rectangle has a blue background and shows the U.S. unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, in February 2026 in gold text as 4.7%. The lower left rectangle has a white background and shows the change in the U.S. unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, from February 2025 to February 2026 in black text with an up arrow to indicate the unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage points. Upper right rectangle has a blue background and shows the unemployment rate for transportation workers, not seasonally adjusted, in February 2026 in gold text as 4.9%. The lower left rectangle has a white background and shows the change in the unemployment rate for transportation workers, not seasonally adjusted, from February 2025 to February 2026 in black text with an up arrow to indicate the unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage points.

The unemployment rate in the U.S. transportation sector was 4.9% (not seasonally adjusted) in February 2026 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These data have been updated on the Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS) Unemployment in Transportation dashboard. In February 2026, the transportation sector unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points from 4.7% in February 2025. Unemployment in the transportation sector reached its highest level during the COVID-19 pandemic (15.7%) in May 2020 and July 2020.

Unemployment in the transportation sector was higher than overall unemployment. BLS reports that the U.S. unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, in February 2026 was 4.7% or 0.2 percentage points below the transportation sector rate. Seasonally adjusted, the U.S. unemployment rate in February 2026 was 4.4%.

Figure is a line graph consisting of two lines. The first line shows the U.S. unemployment rate, not adjusted for seasonality, by month from February 2019 to February 2026 and the second line shows the unemployment rate for transportation workers, not adjusted for seasonality, over the same period. The x-axis shows the month. The y-axis shows the unemployment rate. The U.S. unemployment rate ranges from 4.1% in February 2019 to 4.7% in February 2026. The unemployment rate for transportation workers ranges from 4.3% in February 2019 to 4.9% in February 2026. The unemployment rate for transportation workers reached an all-time high of 15.7% in May 2020 and again in July 2020. The graph shows that this was shortly after the COVID-19 national declaration of emergency in March 2020, shown as a vertical orange line. The unemployment rate for transportation workers appears above the U.S. unemployment rate in almost all months.

NOTE: BLS did not release household survey estimates for October 2025.

Seasonally adjusted, employment in the transportation and warehousing sector fell to 6,531,700 in February 2026 — down 0.2% from the previous month and down 2.4% from February 2025. By mode (seasonally adjusted):

  • Air transportation rose to 575,100 in February 2026 — up 0.9% from the previous month and up 1.1% from February 2025.
  • Truck transportation remained virtually unchanged in February 2026 at 1,462,500 from the previous month but down 1.7% from February 2025.
  • Transit and ground passenger transportation fell to 493,900 in February 2026 — down 0.1% from the previous month but up 1.6% from February 2025.
  • Rail transportation fell to 151,900 in February 2026 — down 0.5% from the previous month and down 2.9% from February 2025.
  • Water transportation fell to 71,400 in February 2026 — down 1.4% from the previous month but up 2.7% from February 2025.
  • Pipeline transportation rose to 56,000 in February 2026 — up 0.7% from the previous month and up 1.1% from February 2025.
  • Warehousing and storage rose to 1,834,700 in February 2026 — up 0.1% from the previous month but down 2.6% from February 2025.

 

The figure is a line graph with a line for multiple transportation modes (truck, warehousing, air, transit, and rail) that shows the number of persons employed by month from February 2019 to February 2026, not adjusted for seasonality. The number of persons employed in trucking ranges from 1,530,300 in February 2019 to 1,462,500 in February 2026. The number of persons employed in warehousing ranges from 1,178,600 in February 2019 to 1,834,700 in February 2026. The number of persons employed in air ranges from 501,200 in February 2019 to 575,100 in February 2026. The number of persons employed in transit ranges from 496,700 in February 2019 to 493,900 in February 2026. The number of persons employed in rail ranges from 181,600 in February 2019 to 151,900 in February 2026. All modes, except rail, show a visible decline in employment from roughly February 2020 to May 2020. Employment otherwise remains fairly unchanged except in warehousing where employment grew rapidly from May 2020 to early 2022 before leveling off.

 
NOTES: February 2019 and February 2026 employment (seasonally adjusted) not shown for water (66,000 and 71,400, respectively) or pipeline (50,600 and 56,000, respectively) transportation. All-time highs (seasonally adjusted) with records beginning in 1990: air March 2001 (633,600); pipeline July 1991 (61,200); rail January 1990 (278,100); transit June 2019 (503,900); truck October 2022 (1,588,600); warehousing and storage March 2022 (1,939,300); and water January 2026 (72,400)

Charts updated this month by section include:

Unemployment in the Transportation and Warehousing Sector and in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations

Monthly Employment in the Transportation and Warehousing Sector, Establishment Data

Visit Transportation Economic Trends for more topics.

The unemployment rate is the total number of unemployed persons, expressed as a percentage of the civilian labor force. The civilian labor force includes all persons aged 16 and older who are employed and unemployed; meaning they are either currently working or actively looking for work. Unemployed persons include those who actively sought a job within the last four weeks. People waiting to start a new job who have not actively sought a job in the last four weeks are not counted as employed or unemployed; they are considered to be out of the labor force. 

An unemployed person’s industry is the industry for the last job they held in the workforce, which may or may not reflect their current job search field or industry.

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