Total N. American rail traffic continued its surge last week as volume increased to 688k for the week. That number is up 11% YOY for 2010 and up 22% over 2009. Once again increases came across all sectors except for grain which showed a small decline. The largest increases came in metals, a sign that US manufacturing is still picking up steam.
Now, couple this with yesterday’s ASA Temp Staffing survey going higher and we have as “Davidson” says (emphasis mine):
Today the American Staffing Assoc. reported that their ASA Temporary Staffing Index rose 1 notch from last week’s 91. This is in agreement with what was reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics April 1st when employment according to the Household Survey increased by 291,000.
The important trends in employment are quite supportative of higher equity prices.
These are your base economic indicators people. ANY increase or decrease in economic activity is couple with a corresponding action by the rails. Temp employment is the most accurate gauge of future BLS #’s I have found. As both of the trends continue higher, one should expect economic numbers to continue to improve…