Sluggish month at Port of Long Beach

May container traffic rose 2.3 percent compared with a year earlier, with imports up 4 percent and exports down 6.1 percent. These monthly reports tend to bounce around quite a bit, but in general the percentages have trended down compared with 2010. Imports typically reflect demand for consumer goods, which is important because they could reflect consumer spending. Port of Los Angeles is not yet out with its May numbers.