December 2024 Economic Insights White Paper
U.S. Container Volume Totals 2,368,758 TEUs in November
Source | Descartes
- Month-over-Month: Decreased 5% from October, marking the first dip below 2.4 million TEUs in four months.
- Year-over-Year: Increased 12.8% compared to November 2023, showing strong year-over-year growth.
- Historical Comparison: Volumes remain 24.6% higher than pre-pandemic November 2019 levels, highlighting long-term resilience.
- Country of Origin: While imports from China saw a month-over-month decline, they remained 13.3% higher compared to November 2023.
The Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI) Holds in Expansion at 58.4
Source | the-lmi.com
- Inventory Levels: Decreased to 56.1, reflecting a typical seasonal decline as goods move through supply chains to retailers and consumers.
- Inventory Costs: Rose 2.9 points to 68.8, signaling higher holding costs, driven by more inventory positioned closer to end consumers.
- Warehousing Utilization: Dropped 4.0 points to 58.9, showing a slowdown in warehousing space usage.
- Transportation Prices: Slightly decreased by 0.3 points to 63.8, indicating a slower rate of price increases for transportation services.
- Transportation Capacity: Increased by 1.7 points to 52.6, pointing to a modest rise in available transportation resources.
U.S. Manufacturing PMI® Rises to 48.4% in November
Source | ISM.com
- New Orders: Grew to 50.4% (+3.4%)
- Production: Increased slightly to 46.8% (+0.6%)
- Employment: Rose to 48.1% (+3.7%)
- Supplier Deliveries: Fell to 48.7% (-3.3%)
- Inventories: Climbed to 48.1% (+5.5%)
- Customers’ Inventories: Increased to 48.4% (+1.6%)
- Prices Index: Dipped to 50.3% (-4.5%)
- Backlog of Orders: Decreased to 41.8% (-0.5%)
- New Export Orders: Improved to 48.7% (+3.2%)
- Imports: Declined to 47.6% (-0.7%)
The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index Dropped to 114.6
Source | Trucking.org
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Month-over-Month: Dropped by 1.9% from October, moving from 114.6 to 112.5.
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Year-over-Year: The index decreased by 1% compared to November of the previous year.
- Not Seasonally Adjusted Index: The not seasonally adjusted index fell to 109.6 in November, marking a 9.6% decline from October.
U.S. Retail and Food Service Sales Reach $724.6 Billion in November
Source | Census.gov
- Month-over-Month: Increased by 0.7% from October’s revised $719.7 billion.
- Year-over-Year: Up 3.8% compared to November 2023, driven by record-breaking Black Friday sales
- Key Drivers:
- Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers: Sales rose by 2.6%, contributing significantly to the overall increase.
- Nonstore Retailers: Experienced a 1.8% sales increase, reflecting strong e-commerce activity during the holiday season.
- Food Services and Drinking Places: Noted a slight decline in sales as spending shifted towards retail and holiday purchases.
Cass Freight Index Insights
Source | Cassinfo.com
- Shipments:
- Month-over-Month: Increased slightly by 0.5% to 1.086
- Year-over-Year: Declined by 0.7%
- Expenditures:
- Month-over-Month: Rose by 0.9% to 3.203
- Year-over-Year: Decreased by 3.8%
- Inferred Freight Rates:
- Month-over-Month: Grew by 0.4%
- Year-over-Year: Fell by 3.1%