The Cass Freight Index of shipments rose 3.7% in April over the previous month and 4% year-over-year. Expenditures spiked 6% in April and 3.1% over the prior month. Shipments are up 12% from the baseline period of January 1990; expenditures have risen 142%.

Two economic reports released Nov. 29 brought some optimistic signs that the transportation and warehousing industries might be recovering from the problems of earlier in 2016, industry experts said.

The Cass Freight Index, a broad measure of freight traffic across all modes of transportation, fell 4.3% year-over-year in June, but improved 1.7% from the May report published by an affiliate of a St. Louis bank.

The Cass Freight Index that primarily measures truck shipments dropped 5.8% year-over-year last month, but it was 1.3% higher than April amid some sequential signs of modestly improving freight conditions.

The Cass Freight Index, based primarily on trucking shipments, showed a 4.9% year-over-year drop last month that reflects the ongoing economic slowdown.

The Cass Freight Index, a barometer of U.S. freight activity that’s primarily based on trucking shipments, dipped 2.6% last month from the same period of 2015, reflecting a continued drag from a sluggish economy.

The Cass Freight Index of shipments held steady last month, compared with October, and fell 5.1% from November of last year as the economy remained sluggish.

Freight shipments declined last month to the lowest October level in four years, the Cass Information Systems index showed, including a 4.7% drop from September and a 5.3% decline from October of last year.

North American shipping activity declined 1.5% year-over-year in September, according to the Cass Freight Index, a measure of shipping activity in trucking and other modes of transportation.