Since 1990 transportation-related employment as a whole grew by 16%, but employment within individual categories shifted. Manufacturing employment declined from 1990 to 2017 (except motor vehicle bodies and trailers), likely due to increasing automation. Other categories more than made up for that decline, such as truck transportation, transit, motor vehicles & parts sales, vehicle repair, construction, sightseeing, couriers, and transportation support. Total employment grew by 34% in the same time period.
Note: Employment is the total number of persons on establishment payrolls employed full- or part-time who received pay (whether they worked or not) for any part of the pay period that includes the 12th day of the month. The employment shown is not seasonally-adjusted. Total employment is nonfarm employment.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, website query, February 21, 2018.