Shipments Index Sees Smallest Drop of 2009

The Cass Freight Index for shipments fell 7.9 percent in November compared to the same month last year, the smallest decline in a year and a half in the closely watched measure of U.S. domestic shipping.

In a signal of a clear but modest recovery, the index also grew 2.8 percent from October to November, the third time in the last four months the shipments index has grown on a month-to-month basis.

The Cass index for freight spending also grew to its highest level of 2009 in November, advancing 5.2 percent on a month-to-month basis. The 17.2 percent decline in the expenditures index was the slimmest of the year and with the advance in the shipments measure suggested companies were pushing more goods into the market after stepping back in October.

The downturn in October had marked a step back from the relatively steady improvement in the Cass measure this year. But November’s shipments index was the second-highest monthly measure of the year, behind only September.