-December 30,2019-
Valley counties GDP growth reported
Oil patch-based Kern County suffered a 0.7% decline in their real GDP growth in 2018 but nearby counties Tulare and Fresno showed good growth at or near 4%. That’s better than the US average of 2.9% says the agency who released the numbers in December 2019.
The US Bureau of Economic Analysis also reported Tulare County GDP for 2017 was 3.7% and 3.6% for 2018. In Fresno County GDP growth was pegged at at 4.4% in2018.Leading the pack of larger counties was the Bay Area’s Santa Clara County at 10.2%. California was listed 4.3% in 2018, well ahead of US numbers.
Best year for nonfat dry milk prices since 2014
Tulare County is the US number one dairy county and it produces most nonfat dry milk for export than anywhere . So when prices are up significantly, our dairy operators and co-ops are happier. After years of low prices nonfat milk prices are higher this year averaging well above $1 compared below that number for the past five years. The average in December 2019 stood at $1.24 on the CME – best since 2014 when the prices were up around $2.
Tulare County home building climbs in 2019
Tulare County homebuilders permitted 25% more single-family residences in 2019 than the average for the most recent three years. Construction Monitor reports 1500 new homes were permitted this year compared to 1150 in 2018,1110 in 2017 and 1150 in 2016.
Package wars – by the numbers
from CNBC
Amazon has been steadily growing its logistics operation over the last decade, and it now delivers more than half of all Amazon packages in the US, according to an estimate from Morgan Stanley published on Thursday and reported by CNBC. That’s a staggering increase over the course of the last few years. It means Amazon, which now operates its own freighters and cargo planes, is accelerating its push to own the entire logistics chain and end its relationship with companies like FedEx and UPS.
At the current rate, Amazon is set to pass both FedEx and UPS in US package volume, with the company currently delivering 2.5 billion packages per year compared to FedEx’s 3 billion and UPS’s 4.7 billion, Morgan Stanley says. Amazon’s number doubled in just the last year alone, from delivering about 20 percent of all of its own packages to now about half.
Rail traffic down 11.5% in December
Rail carloads are down 11.5% as of December 21 compared to the same week the year before according to industry figures. The big decline is in coal shipments -down nearly one quarter year over year.