Supply Chain Research

U.S. logistics and transport employment grew by just 2.7% year over year in May. That was half the rate seen in 2018 and the lowest since Dec. 2017. A 2.1% drop in rail employment is to blame, while marine was the only sector to see an improvement. Slowing growth shouldn’t be a surprise given the widening tariff strategy used by the Trump administration led to a 0.3% decline in international trade in April – the first drop since Aug. 2016. Increased tariffs on Chinese exports may exacerbate the situation in June.