U.S. economy

December inflation data puts future Fed cuts to bed

In December 2024, U.S. consumer inflation reached an annual rate of 2.9%, largely driven by a surge in gas prices. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) ticked up 0.4% from November, in line with economists’ forecasts.

The core CPI — which excludes items with volatile pricing like food and energy — rose by 0.2% month over month (m/m), rounding out 2024 with a 3.2% year-over-year (y/y) increase. This data betrays persistent inflationary pressures that weigh on both the trucking industry and the Federal...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/december-inflation-data-puts-future-fed-cuts-to-bed

Labor demand ends 2024 with a surprising bang

The U.S. labor market was more fiery than analysts expected in December 2024, adding 256,000 nonfarm jobs and slightly reducing the unemployment rate to 4.1%, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The robust employment growth — coupled with stable job openings and minimal layoffs — is a double-edged sword, however. The Federal Reserve has already cast doubt on its willingness to continue cutting interest rates in 2025 as inflationary concerns re-emerge; a robust jobs market will only further...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/labor-demand-ends-2024-with-a-surprising-bang

The supply chain bullwhip is doing the Fed’s job on inflation

Containers at the Port of Los Angeles. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

The only thing surprising about the freight market slowdown is the speed at which it’s unfolding. The supply chain “bullwhip effect” is both predictable and expected. The surge of inventories and declining freight costs/capacity imbalances will be deflationary.

The bullwhip effect is something every supply chain 101 student learns about – the idea that upstream providers overproduce in reaction to a one-time demand shock.

What is the bullwhip effect? 

According to the Chartered Institute of...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-supply-chain-bullwhip-is-doing-the-feds-job-on-inflation

Is supply chain deflation next?

Infinity Logistics aquires Glencore's metals warehousing business

The only thing surprising about the freight market slowdown is the speed at which it’s unfolding. The supply chain “bullwhip effect” is both predictable and expected. The surge of inventories and declining freight costs/capacity imbalances will be deflationary.

The trucking market has slowed. Demand for trucks usually surges during the Spring, but this year, demand for truckload freight has broken out of this typical seasonal pattern.

Outbound Tender Volume Index (OTVI) is an index which...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/is-supply-chain-deflation-next

FreightWaves Classics: America’s commercial shipbuilding industry is nearly gone

container ships

The history of the American shipbuilding industry goes back to before the Revolutionary War. The United States is blessed with three extensive coastlines, as well as numerous ports and harbors that have been the sites of shipbuilding companies for more than 250 years. 

Although it is no longer true, at one time in the not too distant past the U.S. commercial shipbuilding industry led the world in quality and output. 

This article will focus on the U.S. merchant shipbuilding industry in the 20th...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/freightwaves-classics-americas-commercial-shipbuilding-industry-is-nearly-gone

U.S. Economy Shrinks At Record 32.9% Pace in Q2

  • U.S. economy suffered its sharpest downturn since at least the 1940s in the second quarter.
  • COVID-19 has ravaged businesses across the country and left millions of Americans jobless.
  • Gross domestic product shrank 9.5% in the second quarter from the first.
  • It is a drop that equals an annualized pace of 32.9%, steepest annualized decline dating back to 1947.
  • Personal spending slumped an annualized 34.6%, also the most on record.
  • The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits increased...

https://mfame.guru/u-s-economy-shrinks-at-record-32-9-pace-in-q2/

Only certainty in ocean trade is uncertainty

“Uncertainty” was a word repeated throughout a maritime trade forecast Tuesday. 

Judah Levine, the research lead for Freightos, said the overall sentiment throughout the maritime industry is one of uncertainty as the coronavirus pandemic lingers.

“If consumer behavior is uncertain, then businesses are uncertain when to order and then carriers are uncertain about the level of capacity that needs to be in the market in order to manage the businesses,” Levine said during the MarineTraffic-hosted...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/only-certainty-in-ocean-trade-is-uncertainty

+ More