“Consumer confidence increased for the third consecutive month and is now at its highest level since October 2007 (95.2). Strong job growth helped boost consumers’ assessment of current conditions, while brighter short-term outlooks for the economy and jobs, and to a lesser extent personal income, drove the gain in expectations. Recent improvements in consumer confidence, in particular expectations, suggest the recent strengthening in growth is likely to continue into the second half of this year.” – The Conference Board
News / Industry News
The announced levels for Transpacific Eastbound Peak Season Surcharge (PSS) and Bunker Fuel Adjustments from the carriers are listed below.
The American Trucking Assoications’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage was reported to have declined in the month of June by 0.8%; this followed a increase in May of 0.9%.
“The amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry rose 0.6 percent in May from April, rising for the fourth consecutive month, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) released today.”
“The level of freight shipments in May measured by the Freight TSI (120.0) reached a new all-time high level of 120.0, exceeding the previous high of 119.4 in November 2013.”
Today the Global Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. Current and forecasted U.S. import volume data is found within the report which points to July as being the highest monthly volume in the last five years.
Shipment Volumes
“June shipment volumes increased 2.4 percent to the highest level since November 2007, just before the recession. Volumes were 6.0 percent higher than a year ago and are up 15.8 percent since the beginning of 2014.”
On Thursday 7/3/14 the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their latest “Employment Situation Summary”. For the month of June, total nonfarm payroll employment witnessed an increase of 288,000.
“Transportation and warehousing employment increased by 17,000 in June.” Over the prior 12 months, this industry has averaged an additional 11,000 jobs per month.
Institute for Supply Managment (ISM) Manufacturing Report on Business:
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector continued to climb in June for the 13th consecutive month:
Economic Update
“May’s increase in the LEI, the fourth consecutive one, was broad based,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Economist at The Conference Board. “Housing permits held the index back slightly but the LEI still points to an expanding economy and its pace may even pick up in the second half of the year.”
“Recent data suggest the economy is finally moving up from a 2 percent growth trend to a more robust expansion,” said Ken Goldstein, Economist at The Conference Board. “The CEI shows the pace of economic activity continued to gain traction in May, while the trend in the LEI remains positive. Going forward, the biggest challenge is to sustain the rise in income growth which will drive consumption.”
“The LEI rose for the third consecutive month, driven largely by improving housing and financial market conditions,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Economist at The Conference Board. “This latest report suggests the economy will continue to expand, and may even pick up steam through the second half of the year.” “Despite a brutal winter which brought the economy to a halt, the overall trend in the leading economic index has remained positive,” said Ken Goldstein, Economist at The Conference Board. “If consumers continue to spend, and businesses pick up the pace of investment, the industrial core of the economy will benefit and GDP growth could move closer towards the 3 percent range.”