The for-hire trucking industry continued to add jobs in July even as the overall U.S. economy lost jobs, according to preliminary figures released Aug. 6 by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Payroll employment was up 5,900 over July, although that July figure had been revised downward by 1,700 from the figures BLS reported last month. Since the beginning of March, trucking companies have added 13,000 jobs, according to the preliminary numbers.

Year over year, payroll employment was down in July over July 2009 by 1.1 percent. Total employment was 1.24 million – down 213,000, or 14.7 percent, from peak trucking employment in January 2007.

The BLS numbers reflect all payroll employment in for-hire trucking, but they don’t include trucking-related jobs in other industries, such as a truck driver for a private fleet. The numbers also don’t reflect the total amount of hiring since they only include new jobs, not replacements for existing positions.

Nationwide, the overall jobs picture continues to suffer from the end of the temporary jobs that were created to complete the 2010 Census. Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 131,000 in July, primarily because 143,000 temporary Census workers completed their work. Private-sector payroll employment edged up by 71,000.