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Released: February 4, 2010
Inventories Push U.S. GDP Upward
The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in six years in the fourth quarter of 2009, expanding 5.7 percent as companies scaled back their attempts to reduce inventories, the U.S. Commerce Department has reported. The department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said an 18.1 percent gain in exports also helped the GDP increase, along with stronger business investment in equipment and software. The acceleration in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected an acceleration in private inventory investment, a deceleration in imports, and an upturn in nonresidential fixed investment. The government said real private inventories actually contracted $33.5 billion in the fourth quarter from the third quarter, but that was far less than the $139.2 billion inventory retrenchment in the third quarter and the $160.2 billion decrease in the second quarter. The inventory improvement contributed 3.4% to the quarter’s economic growth. The report supported assessments from retail and transportation industry executives who have suggested that companies have been pushing goods to DCs and stores to restock shelves after sharply curtailing inventories early in the year.
DOT Pushes Stimulus Payouts to $8.8 Billion
The Department of Transportation distributed $524 million out to states in the week ending Jan. 22 to reimburse them for construction project costs under last year’s stimulus law. This raises the total DOT has paid out so far to nearly $8.8 billion. Some of that stimulus money may have been catch-up from earlier in the month. The DOT issued only $162 million in stimulus checks to states the week before, well below the average of roughly $300 million it has been disbursing for months. In all, DOT is expected to spend $48 billion on highway and bridge, airport, transit and inter-city passenger rail projects under American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which became law Feb. 17, 2009, and was designed to spend most of its funds over two years. So far, the DOT said it has made $34.6 billion in funding commitments so states can get projects under way. Most of them are through the Federal Highway Administration, which has obligated $23.8 billion and paid out $6 billion. In addition, President Obama recently announced administration backing for 13 major passenger rail corridors that involves parts of 31 states. Most of the $8 billion in stimulus grants will go into regular Amtrak train routes that run on freight-owned rail lines, for either service additions or upgrades to improve on-time performance, while some will go into true high-speed rail projects. Still to come is a discretionary grant pool of $1.5 billion, which Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has said can include some ocean port projects and others deemed of special national significance.
December Truck Tonnage Rises
Truck tonnage rose in December for the first time in 15 months, year-over-year, as the U.S. economy picked up steam, according to the American Trucking Associations. The 6.6% increase brought ATA’s seasonally adjusted for-hire index to 108.4, the highest since November 2008. According to Bob Costello, ATA’s chief economist, tonnage likely will continue to grow on the year-over-year basis, in large part because it was so weak a year ago. The index last rose year-over-year in September 2008, before the U.S. recession deepened. It dropped as low as 99.2 last April.
Diesel Drops 5.2¢ to $2.781 in Third Straight Decline
Diesel’s national average price fell 5.2 cents to $2.781 a gallon, matching the biggest drop in six months, the Department of Energy reported to NASSTRAC on Monday. Trucking’s main fuel has fallen 9.8 cents in the past three weeks, and the drop left it 53.5 cents higher the same week last year, according to DOE. While that declined significantly below the 15.3-cent increase of the prior three weeks, it left Monday’s price at a 2010 low. This decline mirrored the 5.2-cent downturn on July 13, when the price dropped to $2.542. Gasoline also fell for a third week, dropping 4.4 cents to $2.661, its biggest decrease since late September. Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price. For NASSTRAC’s graphical depiction of these regional prices, click here.
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