Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to decline year-over-year for the next few months but the first half of the year should still amount to a 4.5 percent increase compared with the same period last year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
News / Industry News
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 151,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.9 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in several industries, led by retail trade, food services and drinking places, health care, and manufacturing.
Institute for Supply Management
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in January for the fourth consecutive month, while the overall economy grew for the 80th consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM® Report On Business®.
The Port Authority of NY/NJ has reported that full operations at Port of NY and NJ are restored. Gates opened as scheduled this morning 2/1/16, however a service advisory from the Port Authority website, reflects notifications of potential truck and roadway congestion: “as a reminder, in order to keep traffic flowing on the roadways and for the safety of everyone, there is no overnight parking and no queing on public roadways before 5:30 a.m. Truckers should plan accordingly and stagger their arrivals in the morning to help limit potential congestion”.
Sales. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for November, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,313.5 billion, down 0.2 percent (±0.2%)* from October 2015 and was down 2.8 percent (±0.5%) from November 2014.
On 16 January 2016, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran has complied with its obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) conditional to the first phase of sanctions relief. As a result, significant EU and US sanctions relief went into effect as of 16 January 2016. Certain nuclear-related sanctions remain in place, however, and the sanctions related to the Iranian human rights situation remain entirely unaffected and in full force.
American Trucking Associations
American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 1% in December, following a decrease of 0.9% during November. In December, the index equaled 135.6 (2000=100), up from 134.3 in November, and 0.1% below the all-time high of 135.8 reached in January 2015.
The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI), which is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, fell 1.0 percent in November from
October, falling after a one-month rise, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ (BTS). The November 2015 index
level (122.3) was 29.1 percent above the April 2009 low during the most recent recession.
Both the number of shipments and freight transportation expenditures continued their downward slide in December, falling 4.9 and 2.7 percent respectively. The declines are not unusual for December, but they capped off a second quarter of decline. In retrospect, 2015 did not even begin to reach the heights we reached in 2014. By the end of
2015, both shipment volume and expenditures fell back to 2013 levels. Expenditures for freight transportation were 5.2 percent lower than at the end of 2014 and shipment volume was down 3.7 percent from the same period.
With the holiday season over, import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to slowly decline through the first quarter of the year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
“This is the time of year when the retail supply chain catches its breath before the next big rush begins,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “Retailers are still tallying the bottom line of the holiday season, but they’re also making plans for the spring and summer.”