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The West European selling rate dropped to 8.8 million units/year in April, from 9.0 million units/year in March, according to the LMC Automotive consultancy.
“Supply chain bottlenecks still the key reason for the depressed level of registration statistics. The war in Ukraine, as well as lock-downs in China, will likely exacerbate supply issues, meaning vehicle sales will continue to suffer from a lack of adequate supply,” LMC said today.
“As a result, most countries in the region recorded double-digit drops in sales, including the four key markets: Spain (-30.2%), Italy (-29.7%), France (-19.5%) and Germany (-17.5%), said ACEA.* About 12.7 million Europeans work in the auto industry (directly and indirectly), or 6.6% of all EU jobs.
Transportation Unemployment Rate Below Pre-Pandemic Level
The unemployment rate in the U.S. transportation sector* was 3.6% (not seasonally adjusted) in April 2022 according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data just updated on the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Unemployment in Transportation dashboard.
The April 2022 rate fell 3.9 percentage points from 7.5% in April 2021 and decreased close to the pre-pandemic April level of 3.7% in April 2019. Unemployment in the transportation sector reached its highest level during the COVID-19 pandemic (15.7%) in May and July 2020 under the policies of the voted-out Trump mis-administration.
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