Global recession batters California’s ports

California’s ports are getting quieter and the state’s huge export slump is getting worse. According to a report in the Sacramento Bee, exports from California fell 25.5 percent in April from a year earlier, figures compiled Wednesday by Sacramento trade consultant Jock O’Connel reveal. The shipments from California’s ports, totaling $9.25 billion, represent the worst April in four years. Earlier this year, exports were falling at about a 20 percent rate. O’Connell said the new figures show a turnaround is a ways off despite signs on the national level that the economy might bottom out soon. O’Connell told the Bee that the export decline was widespread. The volume of cargo leaving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach was off 18 percent. Exports from San Francisco International Airport fell 34 percent. For the state, April marked the sixth straight month of declining exports. O’Connell added that imports at California’s ports fell 28.5 percent, demonstrating the global spread of the recession.