May traffic at ports followed in the global Port Tracker report from the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates rose only an estimated 0.3 percent from a year earlier. That followed a 7 percent increase in April.
"With rising gas prices and challenges in the labor and housing markets, consumer spending has slowed, and retailers have adjusted their inventory levels accordingly," said Jonathan Gold, vice president for supply chain and customs policy at industry lobbying group NRF.
Growth in inventories and import cargo levels has decelerated in proportion to the drop in consumer spending.
Import cargo volume had been steadily accelerating for 17 months in a row up until April.
The NRF and Hackett Associates expect traffic to rise just 1 percent in June and 0.5 percent in July, the report said.
August is forecast up 3 percent, September up 12 percent and October up 19 percent.
Global Port Tracker covers the U.S. ports of Long Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston and Savannah on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast. (Reuters)
