It's obvious that we get pretty excited about the monthly jobs report around here -- especially when the numbers are awesome like they were on Friday.
But while employment may be the most important aspect of the economy, it's still only one part of the picture.
So we'd like to introduce you to our favorite economic report of the month: The Rail Time Indicators Report from the Association of American Railroads.
Every month the AAR puts out a 36-page report detailing headline rail volume (how many carloads there were in the month) and also rail activity by specific sector: Grains, petroleum products, car parts, coal, and gravel, and so on.
And what makes it even cooler is that the report does a great job discussing the broader economic picture, and how the rail data fits into it. It really is a fantastic read.
January 2012 was slightly better than 2011, but WAY below January 2006.
On a year over year basis, rail carload growth was just 0.1%, way slower than the month before.
Here's a look at coal volume. It's actually below January of last year.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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See Also:
- NAPM Milwaukee BEATS Expectations At 58.4
- Construction Spending DESTROYS Expectations At 1.5%
- CREDIT SUISSE: The Shrinking Employment-Population Ratio Is Bad News For The Economy