If the forecasts hold true, February will be the seventh month in a row to show a decline from the same month a year earlier as retailers reduced imports to reflect sales expectations. (August was down 1.4 percent, September 1.9 percent, October 3.5 percent and November 2.2 percent.)
February is traditionally the slowest month of the year for retail imports, and numbers are expected to resume year-over-year growth in March. March is forecast at 1.3 million TEU, up 2.5 percent over March 2007, April at 1.38 million TEU, up 4 percent over April 2007, and May at 1.4 million TEU, up 1.7 percent over May 2007. June is forecast at 1.44 million TEU, down 0.9 percent from June 2007.
The numbers come two weeks after the Commerce Department reported the weakest holiday season in five years at 3 percent sales growth and NRF issued its 2008 economic forecast calling for 3.5 percent growth, the lowest increase since 2002. NRF strongly supports legislation pending in Congress to boost consumer spending by providing taxpayers with rebate checks.
Seattle and Tacoma are currently rated at “medium” for congestion because of the potential for short-term delays related to winter weather. All other U.S. ports covered by Port Tracker – Los Angeles/Long Beach and Oakland on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston and Savannah on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast – are rated “low” for congestion.
National Retail Federation
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