U.S. Shipments Grow for First Time Since 2007

A closely watched measure of U.S. domestic shipping grew on a year-over-year basis for the first time in two years in December, inching upward 1.9 percent.

The expansion in the Cass Freight Index for shipments from the depths of the shipping downturn in late 2008 came even as shippers signaled business was scaling back last month from a modest peak shipping season.

The Cass shipments index ended 2009 slipping 3 percent in December from November, a contrast with broader economic measures showing that factories in the United States as well as Asia and Europe increased their output in December.

That activity helped the shipments index post its first year-over-year gain since December 2007.

But the December Cass shipments index reached its lowest point since May, and Cass also measured a slowdown in spending on freight services as one of the weakest years in the 20-year history of the index faded out.

The Cass index for freight expenditures fell 5.6 percent in December compared to the same month a year ago, the smallest year-over-year decline Cass measured during 2009, and the spending index fell back 4.3 percent from November to December.