The American Trucking Assns.' seasonally adjusted truck tonnage index grew 1.8% in February after dropping 2.3% in January.

The 1.8% jump pushed the index up to 154.9, the second-highest level ever. The all-time high was 155.8 set in December of 2003. The adjusted tonnage index has remained above 150 for a fifth straight month, and has increased in five of the last six months.
The unadjusted index slipped 1.5% from January to February, leaving the unadjusted index at 142.5. February's decline followed a 3% drop the previous month. Despite decreasing in February, the 1.5% drop is above the average percentage change for the month of February (-2.3%) since 1990. In fact, freight volumes have only experienced positive February growth in three of the past 15 years.
February tends to be a weak month for the unadjusted truck tonnage index, since there are fewer days in the month, which is only accounted for in the seasonally adjusted index. The above-average change this month may be due to the extra day in February this year.
On a year-over-year (y-o-y) basis, the unadjusted tonnage index leaped 7.3% in February, which is the same robust y-o-y growth reported in December of 2003. Also, year-to-date through February, the unadjusted tonnage index is up 3.8% compared to the same two-month period in 2003.
Employment has improved since ATA’s last report. After several months of minimal gains, employment growth has finally shown some signs of life. Data from the Department of Labor indicated that the economy added 308,000 non-farm jobs in March. The labor market is a lagging indicator of the overall economy because companies usually wait to be sure there is a need for more labor before they start hiring.