September Economic Insights White Paper
U.S. Container Volume Dipped to 2,479,284 Import TEUs
Source – Descartes
- Month over Month: Decreased by 3%
- Year over Year: Increased by 12.9%
- US Ports: Notable decreases at ports like Long Beach and New York/New Jersey, with small gains at Los Angeles and Houston.
- Country of Origin: U.S. container import volume in August 2024 dropped by 90,251 TEUs, representing a 4.8% decline from July’s figures.
U.S. Container Volume Dipped to 2,479,284 Import TEUs
Source – Descartes
- Month over Month: Decreased by 3%
- Year over Year: Increased by 12.9%
- US Ports: Notable decreases at ports like Long Beach and New York/New Jersey, with small gains at Los Angeles and Houston.
- Country of Origin: U.S. container import volume in August 2024 dropped by 90,251 TEUs, representing a 4.8% decline from July’s figures.
The Logistics Managers’ Index (LMI) Dropped to 56.4
Source | the-lmi.com
- Transportation Prices: 61.6
- Inventory Costs: 69.0
- Warehousing Capacity: 59.5
- Warehousing Utilization: 57.6
- Warehousing Prices: 63.8
- Transportation Utilization: 59.5
- Transportation Capacity: 56.7
U.S. Manufacturing PMI® Reported at 47.2%
Source | ISM.com
- New Orders: Dropped to 44.6% (-2.8%)
- Production: Fell to 44.8% (-1.1%)
- Employment: Rose to 46.0% (+2.6%)
- Supplier Deliveries: Declined to 50.5% (-2.1%)
- Inventories: Increased to 50.3% (+5.8%)
- Customers’ Inventories: Rose to 48.4% (+2.6%)
- Prices Index: Increased to 54.0% (+1.1%)
- Backlog of Orders: Improved to 43.6% (+1.9%)
- New Export Orders: Dipped to 48.6% (-0.4%)
- Imports: Increased to 49.6% (+1.0%)
The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index Increased to 115.8
Source | Trucking.org
- Month-Over-Month: Increased by 1.8%
- Year-Over-Year: Rose by 2.1%
- Not-seasonally Adjusted Index: Equaled 119.4 in August, 2.2% above July
U.S. Retail and Food Service Sales Reached $710.8 Billion
Source | Census.gov
- Month-Over-Month: Retail sales saw a modest rise of 0.1% from July.
- Year-Over-Year: Increased by 2.1% compared to August 2023.
- Total Sales: Sales from June through August were up 2.3% compared to the same period last year.
- Nonstore Retailers: Reported growth of 7.8% from August 2023.
Cass Freight Index Insights
Source | Cassinfo.com
- Shipments: Decreased by 0.2% to 1.213 from last month, and a 3.8% decline from 2023
- Expenditures: Increased by 0.3% to 4.049, while still down 6.8% from 2023
- Inferred Freight Rates: Increased by 0.5% with the index reading at 3.340, showing slight improvement compared to previous months.
- Truckload Linehaul Index: Fell by 0.8% in August to 150.7, marking the fourth consecutive month.