Shipping giant Maersk, considered a barometer for global trade, is not seeing signs of a U.S. recession as freight demand remains robust, the company's chief executive said Wednesday.
"We've seen in the last couple of years, actually, [the shipping container] market remaining surprisingly resilient to all the fear of recessions that there has been," Vincent Clerc told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" Wednesday, adding that container demand was generally a good indicator of underlying macroeconomic strength.
The last week has seen a sudden escalation in worries about a recession in the world's biggest economy, the U.S., following a set of weaker-than-expected jobs data which has divided economists and market participants.
U.S. retail trade inventories — a measure of unwanted build — in May were up 5.33% from a year ago at $793.86 billion, according to the most recent release from the U.S. Census Bureau.
A report released by leasing platform Container xChange on Wednesday said indicators suggest inventories are higher than demand, meaning a less "prosperous time" in the coming months for container traders, the logistics market and retailers who stockpiled.
Persons:
We've, Vincent Clerc, CNBC's, Clerc
Organizations:
Shipping, Maersk, U.S . Census
Locations:
U.S