Port traffic a mixed bag in March

L.A. had a good month - outbound traffic jumped 19 percent and inbound 10 percent. At Long Beach, outbound was up just 1 percent and inbound fell 7.5 percent. Since these numbers tend to bounce around each month, Calculated Risk's Bill McBride uses a rolling 12-month average, and on that score, inbound traffic is up 17 percent and outbound 9 percent. Meanwhile, employment in the transportation and warehouse categories, which fall under much of this trade activity, is generally flat from a year ago.