Excerpts from analyst Ken Roberts at Forbes:
One look at the list of the 10 U.S. seaports with the greatest increase in the value of their import trade this year, and you can find validation for the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates this year and continue to do so in 2018. The list also aligns with recent strong employment figures and buoyant consumer confidence.
The list also suggests that long-dormant inflation, which has befuddled the Fed’s governors, economists and lesser pundits alike, might spring into action next year. One question will be whether it’s a manageable inflation.
Here are the 10 ports whose imports have increased the most through the first 10 months of 2017, the most recent data available from U.S. Census, as analyzed by WorldCity, the company where I serve as president:
Port Houston
Port of Long Beach
Port of Los Angeles
Port of New Orleans
Port of Savannah
Port of Newark
PhilaPort
Port of Seattle
Port of Wilmington, Dela.
Port of Jacksonville