Another look at container shipments

About 10 days ago I posted some Bloomberg charts showing how a surge in container shipments foreshadowed strong growth in U.S. exports. This chart puts all the data together in a more convincing format. Bottom line: official data on U.S. goods exports for March are likely to show a significant increase, and that bolsters the argument that the economy is bottoming or perhaps is already on the road to recovery. Global trade hit an air pocket in last year's fourth quarter, but now seems to have recovered a good deal of what it lost. The global economy is not grinding to halt.