US Light Vehicle sales totaled 1.06 million units in January, according to the GlobalData* consultancy. The annualized selling rate was 14.8 million units/year in January, down from 16.3 million units/year in December. The daily selling rate was estimated at 42,300 units/day in January, compared with 56,800 units/day in December. According to initial estimates, retail sales totaled around 837,000 units, while fleet sales accounted for approximately ~221,000. This is ~20.9% of total sales. If confirmed by final data, that would be the highest fleet share in 11 months. It is not unusual for fleet sales to account for a larger share of the total market in the opening months of the year, as retail activity slows after the end-of-year push. (AutoInformed.com: January 2024 US Light Vehicle Sales Forecast to Drop a Tad)
“After a flurry of sales activity in December, there was always a risk that January would see some payback, with fewer consumers on the hunt for a new vehicle, and so it transpired. Apart from normal seasonal effects, the current environment is such that buyers remain price-sensitive and if the right deals are not available, volumes are liable to suffer,” said David Oakley, Manager, Americas Sales Forecasts, GlobalData. Continue reading
US Transportation Sector January Unemployment Flat
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The January 2024 US transportation sector unemployment* at 4.7% was the same as the January 2023 level (4.7%) and above the pre-pandemic January 2019 level of 4.0%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said today. However, the economy remains strong under the Biden Administration when compared with the job destroying Trump mis-administration.
Unemployment in the transportation sector was higher than overall unemployment. BLS reports that the US unemployment rate, not seasonally adjusted, in January 2024 was 4.1% or 0.6 percentage points below the transportation sector rate. Seasonally adjusted, the U.S. unemployment rate in January 2024 was 3.7%, as the Federal reserve continues its indefensible ideological, anti-data tight money policy (the highest interest rates in two decades!) with little or lately no inflation in AutoInformed’s view. Continue reading →