Los Angeles-metro trade and transport jobs, September 2026
Los Angeles-metro trade, transportation and utilities employers had 1,047,900 people on payroll in September 2026, up 0.3% from a year earlier. That is 16.7% of all payroll jobs in the metro, against 16.7% a year before.
The broadest supersector in the survey: wholesale and retail trade, warehousing, trucking, air and water transport, couriers and utilities.
The two charts answer different questions. The count peaked at 1,150,000 in December 2018 and says whether the sector is hiring. The share — from 19.2% in January 1990, with a high of 19.9% in December 1994 and a low of 16.5% in June 2026 — says whether it is growing faster or slower than the rest of the economy.
Not seasonally adjusted, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. The share is computed at read time from two series in the same BLS release, so it stays consistent when the levels are revised.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, State & Area Employment, trade, transportation and utilities and total nonfarm payrolls, Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim MSA, not seasonally adjusted, via FRED (SMU06310804000000001, SMU06310800000000001). The share is derived at read time. Auto-generated each build.