Significant volume burst of activity at the Port of Los Angeles with a rise in containers of 9% which is the “strongest month since August 2006,”

Total cargo for September was 775,133 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). It’s the busiest single month at the Port since August 2006. The increased volume reflects peak season volumes and larger vessels calling at the Port of Los Angeles.

Container imports increased 11 percent, from 370,786 TEUs in September 2013 to 411,507 TEUs in September 2014. Exports rose 0.20 percent, from 150,380 TEUs in September 2013 to 150,679 TEUs in September 2014.

Combined, total loaded imports and exports increased 7.9 percent, from 521,166 TEUs in September 2013 to 562,185 TEUs in September 2014. Factoring in empties, which increased 12.2 percent year over year, overall September 2014 volumes (775,133 TEUs) rose 9 percent compared to September 2013 (710,892 TEUs).

For the first nine months of calendar year 2014, overall volumes (6,302,470 TEUs) have increased 7.8 percent compared to the same period in 2013 (5,847,167 TEUs).

Year to date at a glance is as follows (select the table for full size):

This seems a little contra to this week’s census data,

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for September, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $442.7 billion, a decrease of 0.3 percent (±0.5%)* from the previous month, but 4.3 percent (±0.9%) above September 2013.

And this from Logistics Management,

With the holiday shopping set to gear up in a few weeks, it looks like the retail sector could use a seasonal spark based on declining retail sales in September, according to data issued by the United States Department of Commerce and the National Retail Federation (NRF).

Commerce reported that September retail sales at $442.7 billion were down 0.3 percent compared to August and up 4.3 percent compared to September 2013, and total retail sales from July through September are up 4.5 percent annually.

The NRF said that September retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants, dipped 0.1 percent seasonally-adjusted month-to-month and increased 4.6 percent annually on an unadjusted basis.

“Retail sales were surprisingly weak in September,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said in a blog posting. “Despite increasing consumer confidence, an uptick in employment, lower gas prices, and with inflation in check, consumers still slowed spending. Reconciling consumer confidence with consumer spending continues to be a challenge.”

But it may very well be a different set of expectations in terms of retailer sentiment as they gear up for the holiday season.