Los Angeles Delays Hit Sales as No. 1 U.S. Port Suffers

After years of ending the holiday shopping season with too much merchandise stacked in their warehouses, U.S. retailers face the opposite this year: they may not have enough. Equipment shortages, labor negotiations and rail delays are slowing shipments from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation's biggest container hub, just as retailers are piling up goods for their most important period of the year. Cargo shipments through the two ports rose 3.1 percent in the third quarter, slower than the 4.3 percent gain a year earlier.