Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 287,000 in June, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job growth occurred in leisure and hospitality, health care and social assistance, and financial activities. Employment also increased in information, mostly reflecting the return of workers from a strike.
News / 2016
Institute for Supply Management
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in June for the fourth consecutive month, while the overall economy grew for the 85th consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business®.
In view of the recent easing of the SOLAS VGM requirements, specifically the Terminal Weighing Approach (TWA) where carriers will accept the weight from the terminal and not the shipper, we will no longer require the Verified Gross Mass (VGM) Certification distributed earlier this month.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan., June 30, 2016 – MIQ Logistics is excited to announce that for the sixth consecutive year it is ranked on the Ingram’s list of Top 100 Privately Held Companies in the greater Kansas City area.
One of the UK’s leading fashion brands French Connection has signed a five-year inbound logistics contract with MIQ Logistics, worth around £6m.
MIQ executives said the deal shows the growing attraction of medium-sized 3PLs to retail shippers, in comparison to the largest multinational logistics operators, due to higher customer service levels.
American Trucking Associations
American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 2.7% in May, following a revised 1.7% drop during April. In May, the index equaled 139 (2000=100), up from 135.3 in April. The all-time high was 144 in February.
Although North American freight shipments continued to climb in May, they are still well below those of the last several years. Expenditures for freight fell for the third time in five months. The
current economic outlook is volatile, which has led to slow uneven growth. What is perceived as a strong sign one week often looks like a sign of economic weakness the next. Even the Federal
Reserve is having difficulty pinning down the direction and strength of the economy. At their June 15 meeting, they lowered their economic growth projection from 2.2 percent to 2.0 percent. The global economy is facing many unsettling influences, such as Britain’s possible exit from the EU, China’s economic woes and currency problems, and oil prices.
U.S. Department of Transportation
The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI), which is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, rose 1.3 percent in April from March, rising after two months of decline, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS). The April 2016 index level (121.1) was 27.9 percent above the April 2009 low during the most recent recession.
Keeping in line with its previous edition, the Port Tracker report issued today by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and maritime consultancy Hackett Associates pointed to slow growth in the summer months for United States-based retail container ports.