Industry Indicators: June 6-12
Industry Indicators June 6 – 12
iLevel Logistics presents intriguing data that offers a snapshot of notable industry changes and events during the week of June 6th through June 12th.
U.S. employment, electrification expectations, load-to-truck ratios, managers’ perspective on reshoring, diesel fuel prices, near zero-emission diesel trucks, inflation, personal savings, Washington spending, consumer spending this summer.
Total U.S. employment 5% below pre-pandemic levels
Source: CNBC
Still not there yet. While May jobs figures (+559K) were positive month-over-month, they were below economists’ expectations of +671,000.
A third of class 4-8 vehicles are expected to be battery-electric in 10 years
Source: HDT Truckinginfo
According to ACT Research, by 2040 electrification of class 4-8 commercial vehicles in U.S. and Canada will reach 40%.
Why? Among other factors, ACT shows that the total costs of ownership for electric vehicles is already lower than that for internal-combustion vehicles.
Battery costs are expected to fall as well.
Load-to-truck ratios still high – though beginning to level off
Source: SupplyChainDive
Supply-chain managers perspective on reshoring
Source: SupplyChainDive
Diesel Fuel Prices Rise Again
Source: Transport Topics
Benefits of Near Zero Emission Diesel Trucks
Source: Transportation Topics
Tracking Inflation
Source: AP News
The Federal Reserve does not seem worried about recent price spike. Many economists in fact argue that the year-over-year measures of inflation (compared to the unusually low pandemic baseline) will start to recede in the next month or so. Regardless of baseline comparisons, for the average consumer, the spiraling costs of goods and services are real and troublesome.
Personal savings as % of disposable personal income
Source: FRED Economic Data
The pandemic created historically high personal savings. In the first Quarter of 2021, the figure remains above 21%! Reaching back to the 1940s, we have never seen savings rates like this. These extraordinary savings levels can in part be attributed to recent surges in government spending (see next set of graphs).
Washington Spending Habits
Source: Reason
The annual deficit equals government revenues minus government outlays. Federal deficits are common but the magnitude of spending in 2020 is stunning – 6.6 trillion. The 3.1 trillion deficit is nearly 15% of GDP.
Consumers set on spending big this summer
Source: LendingTree Survey
Nearly half of survey respondents said its somewhat likely they will go into debt this summer. Most are considering extensive travel plans and purchasing new cloths. Younger cohorts are more likely than older to spend this summer.
While many employee plan on going back to work, they do not expect to work on-site 5 days a week.
That’s it for this week, thanks for reading!
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