The nation's busiest seaport complex closed in on the peak cargo shipping season with a moderately strong showing last month, reported Los Angeles Times.
June is typically a busy month for cargo traffic at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which rank first and second, respectively, in the US in the movement of cargo containers.
Port officials said that they are hedging their bets about what the numbers signaled given recent negative economic news.
"We're hesitant to read too much into this given the state of the economy," said Art Wong, a spokesman for the Port of Long Beach.
Los Angeles port spokesman Phillip Sanfield said officials are "cautiously optimistic we'll be able to maintain moderate growth over the next six months".
In June, the Port of Los Angeles saw an 8.75 percent increase in cargo, to 696,848 containers, compared with the same month last year. Imports through the port in June rose six percent while exports rose 6.9 percent. The rest of the overall increase came from a surge in empty containers headed to Asia.
The Port of Long Beach handled 554,269 containers, a 0.2 percent increase from June 2011; imports rose three percent and exports increased five percent.
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