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DOT Freight Transportation Index Rises 5.6%
The Department of Transportation's freight transportation services index rose 5.6% in January from the same month in 2014, DOT said March 11.
The freight TSI declined 0.2% from December to a reading of 122.9, dropping for the second consecutive month, DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics said in its monthly report.
January's reading was 0.6% below the all-time high of 123.6 set in November. DOT uses a baseline reading of 100 from the year 2000.
The reading in November was revised down to 123.6 from
123.9 and December's reading was adjusted to 123.1 from 123.8.
"Rail carloads, rail intermodal, and pipeline grew in January but air freight, trucking and waterborne decreased, resulting in the continuing decline in the overall freight index," DOT said in a statement.
The freight TSI is a seasonally adjusted monthly index measuring the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries, including railroad, air, truck, inland waterways, pipeline and local transit.
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Intermodal Traffic Rises for First Time in Four Weeks
U.S. rail intermodal traffic rose for the first time in four weeks, rising 4% in the week ended March 7 compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads reported.
Railroads moved 522,383 intermodal trailers and containers, AAR reported March 11 in its weekly report. The rise follows a 6.3% decline the prior week.
Rail carload volume, which excludes intermodal units, declined 2.1% year-over-year to 268,620 carloads.
Three of the 10 commodity groups AAR tracks increased over last year, led by grain at 11.2%.
Intermodal volume for all of North America rose 6.2% to 323,067 trailers and containers.
Canadian railroads moved 58,622 intermodal units, a 14.1% rise. Mexican rail moved 10,683 units, a 19.6% increase from the same time last year.
Year-to-date U.S. intermodal volume declined 2.1% to 2.2 million units.
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Manufacturing Activity Rose in February at Slowest Pace in a Year
U.S. manufacturing activity expanded at the slowest pace in a year in February as weaker growth abroad limited orders for American-made products, the Institute for Supply Management reported.
ISM's monthly manufacturing index fell to 52.9, the lowest since January 2014, from 53.5 a month earlier, the Tempe, Arizona-based group reported March 2.
Readings above 50 indicate growth. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists was 53.
A separate Commerce Department report issued March 2 said that U.S. construction spending fell 1.1% in January, a bigger drop than the 0.3% increase forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The declines were led by 1.6% declines in public and private nonresidential construction, while private residential construction improved 0.6%.
Cutbacks in demand from overseas customers and domestic energy producers led to the weakest growth in new orders since May 2013, prompting U.S. factories to slow the rate of hiring, ISM said in its manufacturing report.
"There's probably a little bit of energy-related manufacturing of capital goods, and some global, weakness," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh. "It's a temporary setback for the national picture on manufacturing."
Production of motor vehicles, appliances and electronics are helping to sustain orders and counter weakness in energy and capital goods, Hoffman said.
The ISM's new orders index fell to 52.5 last month from 52.9 in January, while export orders slid to 48, the lowest since November 2012.
The factory employment index fell to 51.4, the lowest since June 2013, from 54.1 the prior month, while the production gauge cooled to 53.7 from 56.5.
The report also showed the gauge of factory inventories climbed in February to a four-month high. An index of prices paid held at 35, the lowest since April 2009.
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