Cass Freight Index collapsed at fastest rate since 2009

Vicente Ramos, a father of six who lives in New Jersey, recalled how several years ago he and other workers walked for three hours one night after the van failed to show up. In many temp towns, agencies have flocked to neighborhoods full of undocumented immigrants, finding labor that is kept cheap in part by these workers' legal vulnerability: They cannot complain without risking deportation.

There, she said, she got paid piece-rate, averaging about $9. "We've Seen Just Ghastly Situations"
The growing temporary sector does little to sustain workers' standard of living. So a system of temp vans has popped up, often contracted by the agencies.

Contacts in most sectors reported that upward wage pressures were modest. A2005 Labor Department survey
, the most recent available, found that only 4 percent of temps have pensions or retirement plans from their employers. With the major provisions of health-care reform set to take effect in 2014, there's growing evidence that 2013 is becoming a boom year for temping out.

(Walmart said Rojo wasn't its employee and that it wants its suppliers to treat their workers well. TempWorks, which sells software that keeps track of payroll and worker orders, says sales to staffing agencies have been going through the roof
 and that temp firms tell them the uptick is because of Obamacare
.

That law requires temp agencies to give workers written notice of the basics: whom they will work for, how much they'll be paid and what safety equipment they'll need. Eclipse Advantage took over, and Rodriguez went to work for that company.

The market for technically trained workers for the petroleum industry remains tight. For example, when California inspected Walmart's Inland Empire warehouse in 2011 and found that workers were being paid piece-rate according to how many shipping containers they unloaded, rather than by the hour, regulators issued more than $1 million in fines
 against the subcontractors for failing to show how the pay was calculated.

The proportion of temp workers in the labor force reached its peak in early 2000 before the 2001 slump and then the Great Recession. A few contacts expect wage hikes in 2013 in response to the expiration of multiyear, company-wide salary freezes. Neither Walmart nor Schneider faced penalties.

José Miguel Rojo, for example, packed frozen pizzas for a Walmart supplier every day for eight years as a temp until he was injured last summer and lost his job. In fact, some of the same farm towns featured in Murrow's report have now been built up with warehouses filled with temps. Latinos make up about 20 percent of all temp workers. However, wages increased for some information technology workers who possess advanced skills and are in low supply.

Temp agencies consistently rank among the worst large industries for the rate of wage and hour violations, according a ProPublica analysis of federal enforcement data. Agencies must also reimburse the worker if they are sent to a worksite only to find out there is no job for them there.

Adjusted for inflation, those farmworkers earned roughly the same 50 years ago as many of today's temp workers, including Rosa. The law limits transportation costs and prohibits fees that would push workers' pay below minimum wage. What employers don't provide, workers get from the social safety net, i.

Many metro areas don't have adequate transportation from the working-class neighborhoods to the former farmland where warehouses have sprouted over the past 15 years. Several workers said the temp agency had left them stranded at times. Health-care benefit cost increases are expected to accelerate and outpace wage increases. Temp workers today face many similar conditions in how they get hired, how they get to work, how they live and what they can afford to eat.

Limited hiring plans and ready worker availability in most sectors and regions have held down increases in wages and compensation. In temp towns, it is not uncommon to find warehouses with virtually no employees of their own. But as the economy continues its slow, uneven recovery, temp work is roaring back 10 times faster than private-sector employment as a whole - a pace "exceeding even the dramatic run-up of the early 1990s," according to
 the staffing association.

They usually pay $7 to $8 a day for the round trip. Only 8 percent get health insurance from their employers, compared with 56 percent of permanent workers. Such layers of temp agencies have helped Walmart avoid responsibility when regulators have uncovered problems or when workers have tried to sue, accusing the company of wage or safety violations. Rodriguez has since interned at the union-backed campaign Warehouse Workers for Justice
, earning $12,000.

Workers in several cities said they feel pressured to get on the vans or lose the job. Murrow broadcast a report called "Harvest of Shame
," documenting the plight of migrant farmworkers. But six months later, Eclipse left, and she and all the other workers lost their jobs.

The day after Thanksgiving 1960, Edward R. Many temp workers say they have worked in the same factory day in and day out for years. After her son got hurt on the job, they moved to Chicago, hoping for a better life. Eclipse's president, David Simono, declined to comment. Simos didn't return calls. More recently, temp firms have successfully lobbied to change laws or regulatory interpretations in 31 states
, so that workers who lose their assignments and are out of work cannot get unemployment benefits unless they check back in with the temp firm for another assignment.

Schneider treats its associates with "dignity and respect," spokeswoman Janet Bonkowski wrote in an email
. Most said that they are planning for weakness to continue, and that they may reduce employment levels in 2013. After raising enough money, Rosa returned to Mexico and brought her two teenage sons across the desert and back to Alabama, where they worked full-time at a lumberyard.

"Our suppliers are independent," she said. In August 2012, a Jacksonville temp was crushed to death
 on his first day of work at a bottling plant when a supervisor told him to clean glass from underneath a machine that stacks goods onto pallets — a job that OSHA said he wasn't trained to do.

A source on the outer banks of North Carolina reported somewhat less tourism activity, compared to a year ago because of lingering road problems caused by Hurricane Sandy. But according to the American Staffing Association
, the temp industry's trade group, the pool is even larger: Every year, a tenth of all U.

, and a second batch of workers has been called for Norelco. The way the media could sell it as sociologically acceptable was making money for Christmas, something you were doing on the side for your family. Respondents in high-tech manufacturing said that production and orders were flat to slightly down. In June, the Labor Department reported
 that the nation had more temp workers than ever before: 2.

contact commented that restaurant bookings were brisk for holiday meals and events. One respondent noted that the weak global economy was slowing demand across a broad array of information technology products. Accounting firms reported hiring at a slower pace than the last report.

A New Temp Ecosystem
It is now 5:20 a. Tourism activity was at normal winter levels in recent weeks, and rate changes were modest. In the 1960s, agencies such as Kelly Services and Manpower advertised their services as women's work, providing "pin money" to housewives, according to Erin Hatton, a SUNY Buffalo sociologist and author of The Temp Economy
.

Retailers said employment was up from a year ago, and one contact reported difficulty in filling IT positions. "When we utilize third-party vendors, we contractually require full compliance with all required laws and that all parties conduct business ethically. And in January, a temp was killed at a paper mill outside Charlotte, N.

And they marketed the advantages of workers that the host company wasn't responsible for — a theme that continues today. "So you had that work often positioned as not real work. Contacts said customer inventories were lean, while producer inventories had increased slightly but remained near desired levels.

Walmart said it couldn't comment on the specifics of a subcontractor's employee but said it provides all its workers opportunities for growth. Recent new car and truck registrations in Minnesota were higher than a year ago. "It wasn't typical to see women working," he said.

Carl Camden, the current chief executive of Kelly Services, said the anachronistic language was a response to the chauvinistic attitude of the time. Reports of employment increases came from legal firms, auto dealers, and a few manufacturers. Wage pressures remained largely subdued, although airlines reported upward pressure and some construction-related manufacturers reported plans to give cost of living adjustments in January.

Respondents' outlooks for the next three to six months were more uncertain than at the time of the last report. In December 2011, a Chicago temp worker died after he was scalded by a citric acid solution. , when he was overcome by toxic fumes while cleaning the inside of a chemical tank. The skin cream and shampoo factory he was assigned to failed to call 911 even as his skin was peeling from his body
.

An executive at a Virginia resort area said that his rentals were filled up for the week from Christmas through New Year's Day. Overall, almost one-fifth of the total job growth since the recession ended in mid-2009 has been in the temp sector, federal data shows. Employment held steady or increased at most responding firms.

workers finds a job at a staffing agency. In Montana, vehicle sales remained steady during the past few months, according to a representative of an auto dealers association. " (Manpower didn't return calls for this story. Dispatchers are starting to tap workers for Start Sampling, which provides free samples of items like shampoos, coffee and cat food on behalf of retailers and consumer product companies.

Auto dealers noted difficulty finding qualified workers, and there were scattered reports of shortages of skilled workers at energy-related firms. ; Middlesex County, N. Firms in electric power generation, food services, business support services, and information services announced plans to hire new employees and construct new facilities. manufacturing plant, one in 12 workers was a temp in 2012. In Greenville County, S. But since at least 2005, he said, he hasn't seen anyone who's "been hired straight on.

Credit conditions continued to improve gradually. Tourism and travel activity in the District was robust, with strong growth of visitor counts and spending reported in both Hawaii and Southern California. ; the Inland Empire of California; and Lehigh County, Pa. A decade before, it was one in 22. Growth in manufacturing production was again moderate.

, one temp agency operated out of a motel meeting room once a week, supplying labor to the layers of logistics contractors at one of Walmart's biggest warehouses. 7 percent of total loans, were essentially unchanged. Reports of plans for manufacturing activity have been negative on net since our previous report.

As a result, some developers are turning away from banks and looking more to private lenders. But many have gotten around the law by using so-called raiteros Even in states that have them, the laws are honored mostly in the breach. Revenues continued to expand for food service providers. Loans to individuals, accounting for 4.

Reports of planned activity in the District's service sector have been positive since our previous report. Many contacts expected that growth in 2013 would match or outperform 2012, but some remained more cautious than others, citing the impact of continued uncertainty over federal fiscal policy on the near-term economic outlook.

Consumer spending increased somewhat, while growth in business spending remained tepid. Commercial and industrial loans, accounting for 15. Nonetheless, margins are still tight. Project financing is available, but it is very time consuming to close a deal.

Total loans outstanding at a sample of small and mid-sized District banks decreased 0. Cattle and hog prices moved higher; while corn, soybean, and milk prices moved lower. 1 percent of total loans, increased 1.

However, demand for health-care services remained relatively weak, with some reports of consumers continuing to opt out of elective procedures and health-care providers having excess capacity. Retail contacts in Louisville reported the opening of several new facilities, and an auto dealer group is expanding operations in the Memphis area.

Willie Pearson, who is African-American, has been a full-time worker at BMW's South Carolina plant for 14 years. However, there is a heightened level of uncertainly about the medium to long term. Residential construction continued to increase at a slow but steady pace, but nonresidential construction remained weak.

Retailers in Memphis reported increased sales on an annual basis, and auto dealers in Little Rock and Louisville also reported increased sales for the year. Economic activity in the Seventh District continued to expand at a slow pace in late November and December.

7 percent of total loans, decreased 4. Several manufacturing firms reported plans to lay off workers and close plants in the Eighth District, while fewer manufacturing firms reported plans to hire new workers or expand operations. Contacts pointed to solid sales of various technology services, due mostly to typical year-end business spending increases.

Nonresidential contractors reported that business activity grew across market segments and was better than a year ago. All other loans, accounting for 7. , where Rosa lives, one in every 14 workers is a temp. 4 percent of total loans, was little changed. Our contacts are optimistic about near-term activity due to customers wanting to complete must-do projects, such as maintenance or production consolidation.

6 percent from early September to mid-December. Such high concentrations of temp workers exist in Grand Rapids, Mich. In contrast, firms that manufacture small arms and medical devices reported plans to hire new workers and expand operations. Although inquiries are down, which is typical for this time of year, builders are satisfied with their backlogs going into 2013.

In contrast, firms in medical services and in financial services reported plans to lay off workers. Firms in HVAC equipment, electric components, food, and automobile parts manufacturing reported plans to lay off workers. For example, Illinois prohibits temp agencies from charging for transportation. Real estate lending, accounting for 72. African-Americans make up 11 percent of the overall workforce but more than 20 percent of temp workers.

In New Jersey, white vans zip through an old Hungarian neighborhood in New Brunswick, picking up workers at temp agencies along French Street. It's all been through temporary agencies. A general contractor reported that his customers are postponing the design phase of some of their projects.

During this period, total deposits at these banks decreased 0. Cost pressures eased some, and wage pressures remained moderate. " The company says "after six months they can hire them," he said, "but I'd say it's only one out of five" who actually lands a full-time job.

Other builders expect a slowing in health care construction, as providers evaluate the implementation of recently enacted laws. Demand for most business and consumer services rose. The law also requires an employment notice stating the name of the host company, the hourly wage and any equipment needed. Retailers said holiday shopping boosted sales, and automobile dealers reported that sales were above year-ago levels. Activity among nonfinancial service sectors improved overall. " OSHA director David Michaels said in an interview.

Out of more than 50 Chicago-area workers interviewed for this story, only a handful had ever received one. The bad news is that he is having great difficulty filling low-skill jobs. In turn, the temps suffer high injury rates, according to federal officials and academic studies, and many of them endure hours of unpaid waiting and face fees that depress their pay below minimum wage.

The computer supplier with customers dependent on defense spending cut its staffing by 10 percent to 15 percent over the period from June to September. Manufacturing was mixed overall since the previous Beige Book; six Districts reported an expansion of activity and three reported a decrease. When she found out a neighbor had hired a coyote
to help her cross the border, Rosa joined her, leaving her children with family and taking a bus to the frontera
.

employees plans to add another 1,000 over the coming year, about half domestically. In the Minneapolis-St. Employment levels were steady to up. An aviation manufacturer said they planned to implement price increases this month due to rising input costs.

"I mean, we've seen just ghastly situations. Prices were mostly stable, and wage pressures remained limited. Real estate and construction activity continued to improve. Firms with rapidly growing sales are hiring, but firms in slow-growth industries are not. A contact in the chemical industry reports both good and bad news about the labor market.

He says that drug test fails are much more common than in the past; in addition, a large number of workers quit almost immediately after taking the job. , who act as neighborhood labor brokers for the agencies and charge for transportation. Residential construction increased considerably from a year ago.

Overall, costs were flat to up during the reporting period. Among Districts reporting on their firms' near-term expectations, the manufacturing outlook remained generally optimistic; however, capital spending plans were less uniformly positive.

On one hand, he says that for the first time since the crisis began, workers are voluntarily leaving to take new jobs. Staffing, accounting and legal services firms noted steady demand, while reports from transportation service firms were mixed, but improved overall. Rosa came to the United States in 1997 from Ecatepec, Mexico, where she struggled to raise two sons on her own as a street vendor of beauty supplies.

A biotech firm with 3,500 U. Many responding firms' outlooks reflected fiscal uncertainty during the reporting period. The contact speculates that both of these hiring problems may result from behaviors developed during extended periods of unemployment. Reports on manufacturing activity remained mixed.

The permitted value of new commercial construction in December was up 26 percent in Sioux Falls, S. But unfortunately, the majority of the people did not. Some construction-related manufacturers and transportation service firms noted higher input costs. , and the value of November permits more than doubled in Billings, Mont.

"I no longer could stand the abuses," Rosa said. "Employers, we think, do not have the same commitment to providing a safe workplace, to providing the proper training, to a worker who they may only be paying for a few weeks. They walked for three days across the desert to a meeting point, where a bus took them to a safe house in Phoenix and then to Cullman, Ala.

Only five of the 11 respondents report significant hiring. Energy activity remained at high levels despite a decline in the rig count, and financial firms reported modest growth in loan demand. Agricultural conditions remained dry.

The temp system insulates the host companies from workers' compensation claims, unemployment taxes, union drives and the duty to ensure that their workers are citizens or legal immigrants. The value of November residential building permits in Billings was up 70 percent from last year, and the value of December permits in Sioux Falls was up 39 percent from a year ago. Paul area, December residential permits were up 17 percent compared with December 2011.

Commercial construction activity increased at a solid pace since the last report. The Eleventh District economy expanded at a modest pace over the past six weeks. "I see people accepting them, and so I thought by standing up and speaking, I was hoping that people would join me and would agree and would stand up for themselves.

Most respondents noted stable prices, although accounting and legal services firms reported a modest rise in billing rates and some transportation service contacts noted an increase in freight charges. Firms within the six Districts reporting on transportation services generally noted increased volumes. In April, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced aninitiative
 to get better information on temp-worker safety.

Feed costs for livestock were at record high levels, while prices of other agricultural commodities declined slightly. A major outlet mall is planned for the Minneapolis-St. Residential real estate contacts experienced ongoing modest sales growth for both new and existing homes on a year-over-year basis, while commercial contacts described demand conditions as improving, especially in the multifamily segment of the market.

Reports from Sixth District business contacts indicated that economic activity expanded moderately in late November and December, with most expecting continued modest growth in early 2013. Bankers, on average, reported stronger loan demand, improved loan quality, and higher deposit levels in the recent survey period.

Tourism activity was reported to have increased across much of the nation due to strong business and international travel, early snowfall in some ski areas, and a rebound in areas disrupted by Hurricane Sandy. Most bankers reported improved loan quality compared to a year ago, and they also expected the outlook for loan quality to continue improving over the next six months.

More broadly, leasing and sales activity across Manhattan were sluggish in November but picked up in December. Strong demand from the new media and advertising sectors and some pickup from legal services have offset weak demand from the financial sector. Citing concerns that consumers will spend cautiously due to ongoing fiscal uncertainty, retail contacts and auto dealers reported a slightly dimmer, though positive, outlook for future sales.

The typical seasonal surge in import volumes shifted as a result of two major events. However, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, activity was soft due to marginal snow conditions. Firms have also significantly raised their overall expectations of future hiring and their plans for capital spending since the last Beige Book.

She said she worked as a supervisor on an annual contract for $49,500 a year, with health insurance. The winter tourism season got off to a slow start because of a lack of snow in western South Dakota; recent snowfall should help spur activity, according to an official.

Elsewhere in the region, vacancy rates were little changed in the fourth quarter, though asking rents fell noticeably in northern New Jersey. And recent rulings have tied union hands. A number of shippers used alternative West Coast and Canadian ports ahead of the peak season to minimize disruptions to their businesses. In 2007, Leticia Rodriguez was hired directly by Simos, the logistics contractor running the online part of Walmart's Elwood warehouse.

Overall, holiday sales were reported as being modestly higher than in 2011, though sales were below expectations for contacts in many of the Districts. Workers describe the vans as dangerously overcrowded with as many as 22 people stuffed into a 15-passenger van.

Secondly, Hurricane Sandy caused diversions to Fifth District ports, boosting an already solid peak season. All twelve districts reported some growth in consumer spending. Auto sales were reported as steady or stronger in ten Districts. Vacancy rates have been steady, while asking rents have edged up, led by brisk gains in Midtown South. Interest rates on commercial and industrial loans continued to edge lower.

  Credit standards remained largely unchanged in all major loan categories and respondents also reported generally higher deposit levels since the last survey period. A Montana ski resort reported that visits were up and reservations were looking good for the rest of the winter.

Respondents also reported stable loan demand for both commercial and industrial loans and consumer installment loans. Optimism among Third District manufacturers that business conditions will improve during the next six months has rebounded strongly since the last Beige Book and is evident across nearly all sectors. A commercial real estate contact reports that the recovery from Sandy in Lower Manhattan has been slow, as a number of buildings in the flood zone remained out of service at year end.

Reports from bankers indicated that loan demand had strengthened, driven in large part by an increase in mortgage lending. In addition, bulk fuel shipments that were diverted to the Northeast created "a pinch in supply" for companies located further south. In 2009, when she declined to come in on what she described as a long-awaited day off, she was fired.

Office markets were relatively stable in the final months of 2012. Exports of resins for plastics, grains, forestry products and metal scrap were especially strong, with imports being led by beverages and retail goods. District merchants cited mildly positive holiday sales, while tourism contacts noted continued strength in both business and leisure travel.

Employment levels across the District expanded at a modest pace, while pricing pressures remained subdued. Both exports and imports of auto-related products were robust. Winter tourism activity was strong in areas with snow, but lackluster in dry areas. A 2004 order
 by the National Labor Relations Board barred temp workers from joining with permanent workers for collective bargaining unless both the temp agency and the host company agree to the arrangement.

  Overall loan demand continued to strengthen, led by demand for residential and commercial real estate loans. Manufacturers, on the other hand, noted a decline in orders and production. The first was the threat of an East Coast port strike that has loomed since the September 2012 expiration of the master contract between the International Longshoremen's Association and the U.

In New Jersey, one worker drew a diagram
 of how his temp agency fit 17 people into a minivan, using wooden benches and baby seats and having three workers crouch in the trunk space. Deep discounting was prevalent throughout the holiday season. None of the work led to a full-time job. Services firms reported stable to stronger demand since our last report. The Rise of "Temp Towns"
Rosa, a 49-year-old Mexican immigrant with thin glasses and a curly bob of brown hair, has been a temp worker for the better part of 12 years.

at Staffing Network, and the first batch of workers waits outside to board the school bus for Norelco. While demand for scrap metal remained somewhat weak by historical standards, that for steel products used in automotive manufacturing and in infrastructure and nonresidential construction improved. remarked that law firms see regulatory practice as a growth industry.

One is to try to include them, he said, but "the other is circle the wagons, protect the full-time workers that are there. But worker advocates say vans help the temp agencies by ensuring they provide their corporate clients with the right number of workers at the right time. The agency said it offers complimentary transportation for its employees' benefit.

Demand strengthened at telecommunications and engineering firms, and a contact in Washington, D. By contrast, capacity utilization remained relatively low for manufacturers of technology equipment, and defense manufacturers have been trimming payrolls due to expected federal spending reductions.

"Unions have had two souls when it comes to temp workers," said Harley Shaiken, a longtime labor economist at the University of California, Berkeley. "Consumers will feel a pinch" from the payroll tax increase and continued uncertainty about possible budget cuts. Many of our contacts expect a slight weakening in business activity during the next few months due to seasonal factors and uncertainty surrounding the outcome of fiscal policy issues.

Reports from District factories indicated that new orders and production were flat or down slightly during the past six weeks. Auto production at District plants showed a moderate decline during November on a month-over-month basis. Demand continued to grow at a modest pace for pharmaceutical and wood product manufacturers. If she is lucky enough to be called, she must then take a van or bus to the worksite.

With healthy demand for fuel efficient planes and a sustained backlog of orders, production activity for commercial aircraft and parts has been running well above levels from last year. An executive at a national freight trucking firm indicated that revenues flattened in the District, while another trucking company reported that demand slowed slightly, although that company was able to improve its margins.

District contacts reported cautious optimism following a robust start to the holiday season. The outlook among dealers remains positive; however, prospects for 2013 are not as strong as they were for 2012. District manufacturing activity was mixed across sectors but expanded overall during the reporting period of mid-November through December.

She has packed free samples for Walmart, put together displays for Sony, printed ads for Marlboro, made air filters for the Navy and boxed textbooks for elite colleges and universities. She must first check in at the temp agency in Hanover Park, Ill. In particular, New Jersey dealers reported strong double-digit December sales, capping a third consecutive year of sales growth.

And even though the agency, Staffing Network, is her legal employer, she is not paid until she gets to the assembly line at 6 a. Non-retail services prices rose slightly faster in recent weeks, according to survey respondents. Steel producers and service centers described shipping volume as lower relative to levels seen in the third quarter.

In a proposal
 for the off-road vehicle maker Polaris, the temp agency Westaff, a division of the Select Family of Staffing Companies, said its team was specially trained to spot early warning signs of union activity, such as "groups of workers huddling, then quieting when managers appear.

During the week of Christmas and New Year's Day, the CDC reported that the flu had become widespread across the District. Even though some assignments last months, such as her recent job packaging razors for Philips Norelco, every day is a crapshoot for Rosa. Relative to prior year levels, production was largely higher, especially for foreign nameplates.

Auto sales remained robust and truck sales were somewhat positive with sales of replacement vehicles driving the growth for that segment. Compared to a year ago, production activity was mixed. An executive at a North Carolina healthcare facility commented that the "flu season hit early and hard," more than doubling the average number of cases for that time of year. Companies seeing increases were largely suppliers to the motor vehicle and energy industries.

While sales were better than expected over the Thanksgiving weekend, reports covering the entire holiday season showed that total sales, although above year-ago results, did not appear to meet expectations. Contacts indicated that production activity picked up at petroleum refineries. Some temp firms have even promoted themselves as experts at maintaining a union-free workplace. Auto sales finished the year at a moderate pace of growth--combining the sector's slower pre-storm pace with a bump up for replacement of cars damaged by the storm. Business travel and attendance at major conventions also increased. Agricultural conditions in the District have been mixed since our previous report. Residential real estate market conditions have continued to improve, and commercial and industrial real estate conditions have also improved in some areas. ) Never costs you for fringe benefits.

Makers of food products, lumber and wood products, primary metals, fabricated metal products, and instruments have reported gains since the last Beige Book. The mild pace can be partially attributed to seasonal trends. (If our Kelly Girl employee doesn't work out, you don't pay.

Never takes a vacation or holiday. (When the workload drops, you drop her. Since the last Beige Book, Third District manufacturers have reported that orders and shipments have recovered to a pace of slight growth. About one-third of our contacts plan on cutting back capital outlays during this year, and few producers anticipate expanding capacity.

On balance, manufacturing payrolls were little changed. Raw material prices were either flat or trended lower, while finished goods prices held steady. Manufacturers noted that capacity utilization has fallen in recent weeks; however, rates were within or slightly below their normal range.

A contact in aerospace says that sales of parts for new airplanes are extremely strong but depressed conditions in the aftermarket have spread from the United States to Europe. The economy of the Eighth District has grown at a modest pace since our previous report. Hospitality contacts noted increases in visitation and spending in the final quarter of 2012.

Lower activity was reported by makers of industrial machinery and electronic equipment. Inventories are being reduced to become more aligned with demand. Manufacturing and Other Business Activity Recent reports of planned activity from service firms have been positive. Lower gasoline prices boosted leisure travel. Manufacturing in New England continues to expand at a modest pace according to First District contacts.

Six Districts reported improving credit quality and/or falling delinquency rates. ) Never has a cold, slipped disc or loose tooth. In contrast, reports of planned activity from manufacturing firms have been negative on net. (Not on your time anyway!

Rodriguez returned to the warehouse six months later, this time starting at the bottom, loading trucks for one of Schneider's staffing companies. ) Never fails to please. (None of the paperwork, either! (They add up to 30% of every payroll dollar. Comments from contacts focused primarily on small upticks, new product demand, and emerging markets, rather than on disappointing orders.

Meanwhile, a whole ecosystem of contractors and subcontractors benefits from the flexibility of just-in-time labor. Capital spending was largely on track for 2012. A contact in the chemical industry says that while sales in pounds fell, the pricing picture improved so much that sales in dollars are up. Wage pressures are contained, and rising health insurance premiums remain a challenge.

Sales of frozen fish continue to be weak. She said she was paid $15 an hour, but within a year the staffing company lost the contract. Of 11 responding firms, seven report higher sales in the fourth quarter than in the same period a year earlier, although in some cases the gains are quite modest.

The outlook for 2013 remained positive with hospitality contacts projecting increases in occupancy rates and revenue per available room. Less than half of our contacts expect to hire new workers during 2013. Since the previous Beige Book, real estate activity has expanded or held steady in eleven Districts for existing home sales and leasing; eight Districts for residential construction; eleven Districts for nonresidential sales and leasing; and nine Districts for nonresidential construction.

Total lending at a sample of small and mid-sized District banks decreased slightly from early September to mid-December. International visitors continued to lift tourism activity and advance reservations of international travel have exceeded expectations.

Credit standards were largely unchanged, except in two Districts where there were some signs of loosening. Both are managed by Schneider Logistics, which in turn subcontracts to an ever-changing cast of third-party logistics firms and staffing companies.

For example, Walmart's two largest warehouse complexes are southwest of Chicago and in the Inland Empire east of Los Angeles. The "fiscal cliff" was an explicit problem for a computer firm that sells almost exclusively to Defense Department customers who are worried about sequestration. Never costs you a dime for slack time. We're that sure of all our girls.

Travel and tourism contacts continued to report strong activity. Two contacts in the semiconductor industry continue to report a cyclical downturn in their business. Never asks for a raise. ) Never costs you for unemployment taxes and social security payments. Overall loan demand was steady in five Districts, rose in four, and fell in one. The price of WTI rose over $90 per barrel during the reporting period. A major retail chain indicates that sales were below plan in November and December but picked up fairly dramatically in early January. Strong domestic and international corporate business travel and international leisure travel account for much of this performance.

, accounting for about 11. These contacts anticipate that 2013 will be characterized by low single-digit growth in sales. Retailers attribute the weaker than expected holiday sales to a combination of online shopping, mild weather, fiscal cliff concerns, and, in some parts of the region, slow insurance payouts to those affected by Sandy.

Retail contacts in upstate New York report that sales were flat to up compared to a year earlier. Banking contacts also reported moderate growth in demand for small business loans, particularly from manufacturing industries such as machining and packaging.

Penney said Hanjin is one of several ocean freight carriers that it uses and when it learned there might be an issue it began to divert and reroute its containers. Responding retail firms expect to hold their selling prices steady based on an absence of price increases at the wholesale level. Advance hotel booking data indicate that the strong trend in business travel will continue, leading to an expectation that occupancy rates will hold level in 2013 compared to the high benchmark established in 2012.

jumped up to 50 percent in a single day, said Nerijus Poskus, director of pricing and procurement for Flexport, a licensed freight forwarder and customs broker based in San Francisco. For 2013, most anticipate home sales growth will continue to improve slowly. Credit spreads and financial market volatility remained low, and asset quality continued to improve.

Holiday season sales were up modestly from last year but came in slightly below plan. One contact reports a small single-digit year-over-year decrease in December sales while the others cite increases ranging from near zero to 7 percent. The majority of District residential brokers reported that recent existing home sales were ahead of year earlier levels.

Like Rosa, many undocumented immigrants who spoke for this story landed full-time jobs when they first arrived in the 1990s. "I worked in a poultry plant and a restaurant at the same time so I could get enough money to send back to Mexico," she said. With its assets being frozen, ships from China to Canada found themselves refused permission to offload or take aboard containers because there were no guarantees that tugboat pilots or stevedores would be paid.

A trade association survey of retailers across New York State indicates that sales were disappointing in the days leading up to Christmas as well as in the days after. The bankruptcy of the Hanjin shipping line has thrown ports and retailers around the world into confusion, with giant container ships marooned and merchants worrying whether tons of goods will reach their shelves.

The price of shipping a 40-foot container from China to the U. October is the busiest month for cargo from South Korea to the U.   Retail prices were reported to be steady or up moderately. Consumer loan demand, particularly for mortgage and auto loans, continued to increase. Chris Rogers, a research analyst at Panjiva, which tracks international imports to the United States, said the situation isn't yet dire but could become so.

5 percent of the annual total. The tourism industry ended 2012:Q4 on a high note, establishing new records for hotel room occupancy rates and revenues. , on Thursday, Sep 1, 2016. Pricing for business loans changed little, while contacts cited some loosening of loan standards.

It said it uses "a variety of transportation methods and ports" and right now does not expect a significant effect on the flow of merchandise. Demand remains strong for clothing, shoes, and furniture. Restaurants saw less spending on corporate entertaining and end-of-year holiday events. Credit line utilization rose substantially, with contacts citing end-of-year factors such as tax planning and special dividends as reasons for the increase.

On-highway diesel and gasoline prices trended down, and prices of petrochemical products were mixed. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co. Natural gas prices remained depressed. Buyer traffic remained ahead of the year-ago level by most accounts. But many of them lost their jobs when factories closed during the recent recession and have since found only temp work.

Sales growth was strongest in Florida. Contacts indicated, however, that less home refinancing activity was being processed than in the previous reporting period. Most brokers in the region again noted declining inventories and rising home prices. The South Korean giant filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday and stopped accepting new cargo.

containers are seen in the Port of Long Beach, Calif. Credit conditions continued to gradually ease over the reporting period. Her legal troubles began in 2008, when a federal judge in California ordered Xu Ting — who declined multiple requests for comment for this story — to pay Chanel Inc. The bankruptcy of the Hanjin shipping line has thrown ports and retailers around the world into confusion, with giant container ships marooned and merchants worrying whether tons of goods will reach their shelves.

The Ninth District economy grew moderately since the last report. Overall price increases were subdued. "A person is more likely to be struck by lightning than imprisoned for counterfeiting," said Geoffrey Potter, an intellectual-property lawyer at New York's Patterson Belknap Webb ">Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.

Labor markets tightened modestly. (Stephen Carr/The Daily Breeze via AP) In this Wednesday, Aug. China is not the only country with a counterfeiting problem. Counterfeiting is not a priority on par with drug smuggling or money laundering and is rarely prosecuted as a crime.

She still hasn't paid the damages, according to Chanel spokeswoman Kathrin Schurrer. "She is exercising her rights when choosing not to appear in court, which shouldn't merit any moral or legal judgment. Temp agencies help companies weather sudden or seasonal upswings and provide flexibility for uncertain times.

"Korean shipping companies have suffered large losses, largely because charter rates on leased vessels were fixed in 2010 at a high level while actual shipping rates have fallen," Nomura International analyst Young Sun Kwon in Hong Kong said in a research note. To be sure, many temp assignments serve a legitimate and beneficial purpose. South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co.

None of this has stopped her from becoming a legal permanent resident of the US and achieving a comfortable suburban life. , on Thursday, Sep 1, 2016. A restaurant chain reported menu price increases in the 2 to 3 percent range. The lack of legal cooperation with China makes it easy for counterfeiters to move their money beyond the reach of Western law enforcement — and hard to root out counterfeiting kingpins.

(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Construction and real estate experienced continued strong recovery. Consumer Spending and Tourism Activity was steady in agriculture and slowed slightly in the mining sector. containers are seen in the Port of Long Beach, Calif. A 45-year-old Chinese woman, Xu Ting, lives in a brown shingle house with a weedy driveway.

Prices for some intermediate materials used in the construction sector, such as drywall and steel rebar, ticked up, while log and pulp prices remained flat. Every box moved is at a revenue negative cost, i. Four days after the suit was filed, Xu Ting married a Chinese man, Xu Lijun, a civil engineer licensed in California who is six years her junior, according to her marriage license issued in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon.

 
Wage increases were moderate. Upward price pressures were limited on balance during the reporting period. Prices of grapes and nuts increased, and higher prices for grains and corn due to the drought earlier in the year boosted prices of grocery dairy and meat items. The South Korean giant filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday and stopped accepting new cargo.

"My client also thinks making counterfeits is illegal, but they did not make them," Chen said. Most fakes are made in China, but they are sold in America. 9 million in damages for selling counterfeits online. After pressure
 from the temp industry and others, the IRS ruled
 that companies have up to a year to determine if workers qualify.

Increased activity was noted in consumer spending, tourism, professional services, manufacturing and energy. With its assets being frozen, ships from China to Canada found themselves refused permission to offload or take aboard containers because there were no guarantees that tugboat pilots or stevedores would be paid.

Under the law, employers must provide health coverage only to employees who average 30 hours a week or more. And don't look for Obamacare to fix it. it is cheaper for a ship to sit at anchor than to operate and carry any boxes on any corridor," said Roberto Giannetta, an industry representative who is also secretary-general for the Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association, which counts Hanjin as a member.

As long as counterfeiters can stay out of jail and hold on to their profits — and consumers continue to buy — the trade in fakes will likely thrive. NEW YORK (AP) — Some major retailers are scrambling to work out contingency plans to get their merchandise to stores as the bankruptcy of the Hanjin shipping line has thrown ports and retailers around the world into confusion.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Price movements for energy items were mixed: retail gasoline prices fell, and electricity prices rose in some areas. 31, 2016, photo, the container ship Hanjin Montevideo leaves the Hanjin Terminal and the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, Calif.

Hanjin has filed for bankruptcy and the ship Hanjin Montevideo is to be anchored inside the breakwater. She has been sued for counterfeiting by eight luxury brands, including Gucci and Louis Vuitton, and owes Chanel Inc. "Virtually all shipping lines worldwide are incurring losses. Employees try out jobs, gain skills and transition to full-time work. The bankruptcy of the Hanjin shipping line has thrown ports and retailers around the world into confusion, with giant container ships marooned and merchants worrying whether tons of goods will reach their shelves. 1 percent at the end of 2011. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) With its assets being frozen, ships from China to Canada found themselves refused permission to offload or take aboard containers because there were no guarantees that tugboat pilots or stevedores would be paid.

The conglomerate, or chaebol, he built helped drive the country's ascent as a major economy, Asia's fourth-largest. A major commercial real estate firm forecast that Minneapolis-St. Retail sales 
flattened, with the exception of food and vehicle sales, according to most merchants contacted since our last report. 07 billion) trying to save the troubled shipping company, which has foundered as freight rates have tanked due to weak demand and soaring global capacity.

One in five manual laborers who move and pack merchandise is now a temp. Xu Ting simply refused to show up in court over the years. Paul area office vacancy rates will dip to 17. Non-manufacturing contacts report some improvement in business conditions and have grown increasingly optimistic about prospects for 2013.

NO PROBLEM
Xu Ting's legal troubles did not prevent her from getting a green card. In contrast, many grocers noted an uptick in revenues. In February 2014, she became a legal permanent resident by virtue of being married to someone with an advanced degree or "extraordinary ability," according to the person familiar with the matter. As before, the products change by the season.

But now, instead of picking strawberries, tomatoes and corn, the temp workers pack chocolates for Valentine's Day, barbecue grills for Memorial Day, turkey pans for Thanksgiving, clothing and toys for Christmas. Contacts in the manufacturing sector continue to report little or no growth in activity though they remain mildly optimistic about the near-term outlook.

Home sales in November were up 20 percent from the same period a year ago in the Minneapolis-St. A slight man in wire-rimmed glasses who answered the door at the Rancho Penasquitos house identified himself as Xu Lijun. In the Sioux Falls area, November home sales were up 20 percent, inventory was down 14 percent and the median sale price increased 9 percent relative to a year earlier.

Xu Lijun asked an Associated Press reporter why he had come, then said, "I don't want to talk to you. According to survey respondents, retail price growth slowed during the past month. New York City area firms--both manufacturing firms  and non-manufacturing firms--say that Sandy adversely affected revenues in November but that business was seen to be back on track in December.

Paul area; the inventory of homes for sale was down 29 percent, and median sale prices rose 17 percent. forces during the Vietnam War. Among other businesses, it owns South Korea's biggest airline, Korean Air Lines. A West Virginia department store manager reported that sales were a little soft ahead of Christmas, while other retailers noted little change.

South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co. Despite spending millions on brand protection, companies often end up playing whack-a-mole, shutting down producers and distributors of fakes, only to see them pop up again. Commercial real estate markets continued to tighten.

Behind him, in a two-story foyer, there were voices of a woman and young child. Most retailers responding to a special poll indicated that they planned an equal amount of holiday discounting as a year ago. The same firm forecast industrial vacancy rates to drop to 9. As is one in six assemblers who work in a team, such as those at auto plants.

Instead, doing graduate studies in statistics at San Diego State University, she helped her family amass at least $890,000 in bank accounts back in China and bought the $585,000 Rancho Penasquitos house with her husband, who has also been involved in selling counterfeit luxury goods, public records and court cases in China and the US show.

Several blamed the lackluster sales on the federal government's failure to resolve its fiscal issues. Federal fiscal indecision also pushed sales of heavy trucks, construction equipment, and buses at the end of 2012, ahead of the possible expiration of bonus depreciation. The South Korean giant filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday and stopped accepting new cargo.

Founder Cho Choong Hoon started a trucking business in 1945 and made a fortune hauling supplies for U. , on Thursday, Sep 1, 2016. Residential real estate market activity increased. In some lines of work, huge numbers of full-time workers have been replaced by temps. containers are seen in the Port of Long Beach, Calif.

Although big-ticket sales were weak overall, car sales rose by double-digit percentages in recent weeks. Since Cho's son Yang-ho took over in 2014, Hanjin Group has spent 1. 7 percent at the end of 2012 compared with 19. The temp industry boomed in the 1990s, as the rise of just-in-time manufacturing drove just-in-time labor. 1% year-over-year], the Cass Freight Index shipments data in September disappointed, providing hindsight that August only gave us "false hope. Staffing Network said in a statement
 that workers weren't required to come to the branch office. Boston reported continued strong demand for clothing, shoes, and furniture, and San Francisco reported robust online sales.

But if a company simply cut its temps, it was easy to write it off as seasonal — and the host company could often avoid the federal requirement that it notify workers of mass layoffs in advance. 1% in September from a year ago, the 19th month in a row of year-over-year declines, and the worst September since 2009!

Since the previous Beige Book, consumer spending increased to some degree in all twelve Districts. It's also been a factor in shipping rates rising and could hurt some trucking firms with contracts to pick up goods from Hanjin ships. Grounds for denying a green card range from committing a serious crime to having communicable disease, but there's nothing about civil liabilities.

Many workers, it said, get hired by calling about job opportunities and then go directly to their worksites. Retail sales were flat in Richmond except for gains in food and auto sales. But it also gained by promoting itself as the antidote to bad publicity over layoffs. Unions, on the ropes nationwide, have historically done little for temp workers.

They directed her to a temp firm, she said, and a few years later, she returned to the same warehouse, still undocumented. The next year, Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, and Yves Saint Laurent — all brands belonging to France's Kering group — filed a lawsuit in New York federal court against Xu Ting, her future husband, her younger brother, her mother, and six others who the companies said sold more than $2 million worth of fake handbags and wallets online to US customers.

To many South Koreans, Hanjin's woes are typical of the difficulties chaebol are facing as offspring of the founding generation fumble in their attempts to keep control of their fathers' and grandfathers' business empires. Hanjin, the world's seventh-largest container shipper, filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday and stopped accepting new cargo.

"Without expertise or understanding of the industry, she was appointed as the CEO only because she was a relative," Lee Ji-soo, an attorney at Law & Business Research Center in Seoul, said of Choi's time at the helm.  The Cass Freight Index, tracking US shipment volumes by all modes of transportation, fell 3.

LOS ANGELES, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A group of shipping companies and a powerful dockworkers union reached a tentative labor deal late on Friday after nine months of negotiations, settling a dispute that disrupted the flow of cargo through 29 U. Another temp worker, Judith Iturralde, traced the shift back even earlier, to the immigration crackdowns after 9/11.

With its assets being frozen, ships from China to Canada were refused permission to offload or take aboard containers because there were no guarantees that tugboat pilots or stevedores would be paid. Expectations for future sales were positive but mild, particularly in Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Dallas where contacts cited the impact of fiscal cliff uncertainty on consumer spending.

Dan Kowalski, an immigration attorney and editor of Bender's Immigration Bulletin, said immigration officials may not have known about Xu Ting's legal problems but, more likely, didn't consider them disqualifying. But in 1985, the Federal Trade Commission ruled
 that the trade association could not force its members to honor that pledge; so they didn't. This just keeps getting worse.

"A vaguer requirement for "good moral character" is more commonly applied for citizenship, not legal residence. She said that after she returned to work from surgery in 2002, the compact-disc warehouse she worked at told her it could no longer employ her because she didn't have papers.

West Coast ports and snarled trans-Pacific maritime trade with Asia. Across the nation, holiday sales grew modestly compared with last year but came in below expectations in the New York, Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, and San Francisco Districts. The temp industry initially won union backing by promising never to cross picket lines. After offering a glimmer of "less bad" hope in August [the index was down "only" 1.

If a company laid off a large portion of its workforce, it could make big news and leave customers feeling sour. The South Korean giant represents nearly 8 percent of the trans-Pacific trade volume for the U. Gucci alleges that the group shipped merchandise from China to a house in San Diego, where it was repackaged and passed off as genuine. A major retail chain in New York indicated that sales picked up in early January.

"It is a typical chaebol story. While some retailers may already have merchandise for the holiday season affected, experts say what's most important is that the issue be resolved before the critical shipping month of October. Overcapacity has infected trucking, rail, air freight, barge, ocean container, and bulk, the report points out. That still falls short of the fees that Hanjin Shipping must pay for services it needs to offload cargoes already on its vessels. Automakers are now trying to cut inventories via a mix of large incentives and production cuts.

Gucci subpoenaed banking records. In the last 10 to 15 years, there's just a big shift to this for a lot more workers - which makes them a lot more vulnerable. * Helps Save Significantly On Fuel And Labor Costs: GPS tracking systems help companies gain a clearer understanding of their operations by providing a bird' eye view of the whole system while simultaneously supplying in-depth data on each facet of the undertaking.

"While it's certainly not a new phenomenon, it's rapidly escalating. But while the American Staffing Association has a code of ethics
 containing similar guidelines, it has fought against such laws and blocked them in California and New York.

2 million) to rescue the shipping firm, way short of Hanjin Shipping's more than 6 trillion won ($5. "We thought that heaping new laws on top of existing laws would not be effective. But the rest will continue to ply the routes, most likely under new ownership - some have already been acquired by other carriers. One of the four, the Hanjin Greece, was scheduled to dock and unload at the Port of Long Beach early Saturday morning, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California, a group that tracks cargo ship traffic.

Hanjin Shipping was handling nearly 8 percent of the trans-Pacific trade volume for the U. Last week, creditors led by the Korea Development Bank rejected a plan by Hanjin Group to spend another 500 billion won ($447.

Once the vehicle reaches the destination or a pre-determined point, the device is removed and the information is downloaded onto a computer for evaluation. They almost never get benefits and have little opportunity for advancement. This makes it easier to locate problem areas and come up with more efficient systems.

Ford already announced, "We continue to match production with demand. (Additional reporting by Ann Saphir and Sarah McBride in San Francisco and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Ken Wills, Bill Trott and Frances Kerry) economy some $2 billion a day.

CHICAGO/LOS ANGELES, Oct 24 (Reuters) - A shortage of transportation equipment and possible labor disruptions at the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex, the nation's busiest, is delaying shipping containers for up to three weeks, threatening timely delivery to retailers for the holiday season. And Hanjin's ships aren't going to evaporate to knock down capacity.

Companies with fleet monitoring systems consistently report increased efficiency and lowered costs in their operations. It's going to get worse. Passive systems on the other hand collect the same data but the information is stored on board the vehicle itself.

According to local media reports, that amounts to 600 billion won ($543 million). Many get by on minimum wage, renting rooms in rundown houses, eating dinners of beans and potatoes, and surviving on food banks and taxpayer-funded health care. Still, the settlement averted a worst-case scenario of the labor dispute devolving into a full-scale, extended shutdown of the ports, which the retail and manufacturing industries have projected could cost the U.

Since "the industrial-led recovery (2009-2014) in the US" ended, "we have been patiently waiting for the consumer to take the baton of leadership in economic growth. The oldest ships might get scrapped. "All laws that apply to every other employee apply to temporary workers," said Stephen Dwyer, the group's general counsel. Similar state bills have passed in New Jersey and Illinois in the past few years.

"Shipping freight rates have been unsustainably low for far too long. The shipping company has posted net losses every year since 2011. JP Morgan Chase handed over account records with a wealth of information about the couple: addresses, dates of birth, driver's license, Social Security and passport numbers, and a student identification card.

"We're seeing just more and more industries using business models that attempt to change the employment relationship or obscure the employment relationship," said Mary Beth Maxwell, a top official in the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division. "Hanjin is a very solid company with a long history - the biggest shipping line in Korea and one of the top biggest shipping lines worldwide," he said.

Val Noronha, president of Digital Geographic Group, said the company's GPS tracking data showed a third of trucks took more than two hours to enter and leave the port, compared to about one fifth taking that long in June of 2010. market, and with its container ships marooned offshore, major retailers have been scrambling to devise contingency plans to get their merchandise into stores.

" And demand has been lousy. When they decrease, they subtract from GDP. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), which tracks only spot-market rates
(not contractual rates) of shipping containers from Shanghai to 15 destinations around the world, had started plunging in February 2015. Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts indicated that economic activity has expanded since the previous Beige Book report, with all twelve Districts characterizing the pace of growth as either modest or moderate.

Earlier, the company received authority to spend money needed to dock at U. Louis District reports some slowing. Statistics from the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents 29 ports along the West Coast, show hours paid to terminal workers jumped 24 percent this September over the same month last year.

"Someone from the garment industry called earlier today asking: 'How long is this going to go on, because I've got clothing out there,'" Louttit said. ports and begin unloading four vessels that have been stranded at sea by the company's failure last week, a company lawyer told a U.

The change sent roughly 8,000 truckers that serve the port each day scrambling to find chassis. The disruptions stem from the move by shipping lines, which struggled during the recession, to sell container trailers and other non-core assets to equipment leasing companies, port sources and outside experts said.

Growth in the Boston, Richmond, and Atlanta Districts appears to have increased slightly, while the St. "Retailers always have robust contingency plans, but this degree of uncertainty is making it challenging to put those plans in place," said Jessica Dankert, senior director of retail operations for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, a trade alliance with members including companies like Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Target.

With major port contracts up for renewal this year, retailers including Wal-Mart ordered early and prompted a surge of deliveries in June and July, port statistics show. Carriers, desperate to get loads together, were accepting rates far below cost. Last month, 750,850 inbound containers arrived at the Los Angeles/Long Beach complex, up almost 11 percent from a year ago, the port statistics show.

And inventory declines have hit GDP for five months in row now. The multi-colored tangle above it represents the years 2011 through 2015. Since the previous Beige Book, activity in the New York and Philadelphia Districts rebounded from the immediate impacts of Hurricane Sandy. Last March, there finally were rumors that some carriers quoted rates of "zero.

Businesses have been trying to whittle down their inventories. They don't have a lot of time. But significant volume still arrived during the traditional August-October period that precedes the November-January holiday shopping season. Since businesses stocked up for this great consumer recovery, inventories started to accumulate in late 2014 and built to crisis proportions by early 2016, with the inventory-to-sales ratio hitting levels last seen after the Lehman bankruptcy.

That's meant cargo headed to and from Asia is in limbo, much to the distress of merchants looking to stock shelves with fall fashions or Christmas toys. The Cass Freight Index is not seasonally adjusted, so it shows strong seasonal patterns. The delays are affecting retailers including JC Penney Co , Macy's Inc, Kohl's Corp Nordstrom Inc , American Eagle, Ralph Lauren and Carter's, according to three people with direct knowledge of the situation.

"Our track record of being a fair and lawful employer is evidenced by the fact that more than 65 percent of the temporary employees we hire and place have worked with Staffing Network for one year or more," the company wrote
. When business inventories increase, they add to GDP by the magic of the GDP formula. The parties pressing for arrest were World Fuel Services Inc and OceanConnet Marine PTE Ltd, and Hanjin's attorney said the company expected to work out an arrangement to release the ship next week.

The backlog of containers is creating extra work. Around $14 billion of cargo has been tied up globally as ports, tugboat operators and cargo handling firms refuse to work for Hanjin, the world's seventh-largest container carrier, which filed for receivership in a Seoul court last week. Giant container ships from the South Korean-based Hanjin shipping line are marooned with their cargo of what experts say are lots of TVs and printers, but also loads of home furnishings and clothing.

Note that September is supposed
to be the peak shipping season, but the indexdeclined
instead of rising: In the chart, the red line with black markers represents 2016. In terms of the goods-producing economy, which relies on transportation to get its merchandise delivered, this is the "economic recovery" in 2016 so far.

"We provide all employees opportunities to voice any questions or concerns about any aspects of their jobs — without any retaliation. An arrest warrant was entered against the Hanjin Montevideo, currently anchored off Long Beach, and the ship was seized. Last month, 750,850 inbound containers arrived at the Los Angeles/Long Beach complex, up almost 11 percent from a year ago, the port statistics show. , said some truckers have refused to go to the ports because of long wait times.

Statistics from the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents 29 ports along the West Coast, show hours paid to terminal workers jumped 24 percent this September over the same month last year. Perez was sent to California on Tuesday as an emissary for Obama, who had come under mounting political pressure to intervene in a labor conflict that by some estimates could have ended up costing the U.

pork and beef producers. Geoffrey Hanna, vice president of textile importer Henry W. President Barack Obama urged "the parties to work together to clear out the backlogs and congestion in the West Coast ports as they finalize their agreement," the White House said in a statement.

But Gucci, which is seeking $12 million in damages, couldn't find where the money was going because Chinese banks, including the state-run Bank of China, refused to disclose transaction details about the counterfeiters' accounts in China. South Korea's Hanjin had asked U. It is a practice that George Gonos, a sociologist at SUNY-Potsdam who has spent his career studying the temp industry, calls the modern version of the "shape-up
" - a practice in which longshoremen would line up in front of a boss, who would pick them one by one for work on the docks.

" The SCFI, which is very volatile, hit 415, down 62% from February 2015! They unload clothing and toys made overseas and pack them to fill our store shelves. -bound ships in court papers, but Volkov said she did not have information about the other vessels. The people here are not day laborers looking for an odd job from a passing contractor. Buyer interest remained strong but several builders continued to note difficulty securing development and construction financing.

The backlog of containers is creating extra work. It was the lowest September data point since 2012: With total shipping volumes declining, the amount spent on shipping has also declined, down a "less bad" 3. At the time, we warned of Hanjin's impending bailout or bankruptcy and, as I wrote, "the awkward side effect of stranded cargo
.

The majority of builders continued to report that new home inventories were below the year-ago level and prices were up slightly. Despite the challenges, the outlook for construction activity remained positive and builders anticipate new home sales in 2013 to exceed 2012 levels across many parts of the District. Hanjin identified 14 U.

The decline was widespread, import and export volumes decreasing in most regions and countries, both advanced and emerging. They are regular employees of temp agencies working in the supply chain of many of America's largest companies - Walmart, Macy's, Nike, Frito-Lay. Import and export growth turned heavily negative in Japan.

The check shows he was paid only $57. , provided ProPublica with a copy of a 2011 paycheck
 from subcontractor Eclipse Advantage. Builders reported that recent new home sales and construction activity were slightly ahead of year-earlier levels.

economy billions of dollars. meat exporters have had to put millions of pounds of beef and pork into cold storage, ship by air or use Canadian or Mexican ports, rather than send it out through West Coast ports. Neither Eclipse, Schneider nor Walmart provided an explanation for Gutierrez's paycheck. At the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation's busiest port complex, three Hanjin container ships ranging from about 700 feet to 1,100 feet (213 meters to 304 meters) long were either drifting offshore or anchored away from terminals on Thursday.

8% year-over-year, after having plunged 6. Among emerging economies, Central and Eastern Europe was one of the worst performers. Reports from District homebuilders were a bit more positive than in our last report. Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood to issue an order to prevent creditors from seizing Hanjin ships or property, and to allow cargo owners to make arrangements to retrieve goods stranded in warehouses.

Tyson Foods Inc and Cargill Inc are among the leading U. A fourth vessel that was supposed to leave Long Beach on Thursday morning remained anchored inside the breakwater. 5 hours of work, or $4. Volkov said at least $10 million was authorized by a Korean court to begin servicing the four ships.

But the "zero" rate rumors marked the low point of the rates. Berto Gutierrez, who has worked several stints at the Walmart warehouse in Elwood, Ill. They make our frozen pizzas, sort the recycling from our trash, cut our vegetables and clean our imported fish. They are as important to the global economy as shipping containers and Asian garment workers.

The White House called the deal "a huge relief" for the economy, businesses and workers. It took his firm more than two weeks to get a recent shipment out, Hanna said. Additionally, fleet monitoring systems help in the following. Venezuela's shipping industry association last year estimated the debt at $817 million for containers that were not returned or returned late. This isn't stagnation or sluggish growth. These allow fleet controllers to provide constant vital feedback to the drivers.

Still net farm incomes remained high due to historically high crop prices and crop insurance payments. Inbound shipping container traffic at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the two largest West Coast ports and key hubs for Union Pacific's international intermodal business, also point to recovering volumes. Across America, temporary work has become a mainstay of the economy, leading to the proliferation of what researchers have begun to call "temp towns.

Most importantly, active tracking systems are able to sound an immediate alert should an accident or emergency occur, which is not the case with passive systems. " They are often dense Latino neighborhoods teeming with temp agencies. Or they are cities where it has become nearly impossible even for whites and African-Americans with vocational training to find factory and warehouse work without first being directed to a temp firm.

The Hanjin Group said in a statement Tuesday that it will provide its stakes in overseas terminals, such as the one Hanjin operates in Long Beach, California, as collateral to borrow 60 billion won ($54 million). We remain concerned about elevated levels of cars on dealer lots, and we acknowledge continued efforts to streamline finished inventory in most machinery sectors.