Econintersect: Rail traffic for January, as reported by the AAR (American Association of Railroads), continues the pattern started in 2010 of consistently showing year over year growth. The volume of rail traffic in January 2011 was 8% higher than it was a year ago. The voulme of rail traffic is considered a good indicator of economic activity.Analyst Steven Hansen reports that the data is such that he can not determine if there is any accerleration of growth or not. As long as there is no second derivative pattern evident, the conclusion is that rail traffic is saying “steady as she goes”, which has been slow growth.
Source: GEI Analysis
