Dimming shipping demand may not end the tight squeeze on warehouse space anytime soon. Construction of new industrial facilities slowed sharply at the end of last year, the WSJ Logistics Report’s Liz Young writes, suggesting a shortfall in capacity at distribution centers that has helped boost logistics property prices will likely continue. The 24% slide in industrial construction starts in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared with the same period a year earlier, measured by CoStar Group, is part of a broader contraction in capacity across supply chains—a response to declining orders and inventory retrenchment by shippers. Retailers have slowed their leasing as the pandemic-driven surge in online shopping has ebbed and consumer spending is wavering. Experts say the long lead times on warehouse development mean the pullback will take time to work through markets. Developers are being pickier about starting projects. Vacancy rates are ticking up, but the increases have been slim and space in big markets remains scarce.

• Warehouse asking rents in North Carolina’s Triad industrial market rose 12.2% in the fourth quarter. (Business Journals)

Amazon appears to be weathering the storm in e-commerce business, at least when it comes to consumer sales. The online behemoth’s quarterly sales rose a higher-than-expected 9% in the last three months of the year, the WSJ’s Sebastian Herrera reports, reaching $149.2 billion during a period wracked by faltering consumer demand and high inflation. Amazon’s shipping costs grew at less than half that rate on an annual basis, and the 4% increase signaled the company is moving rapidly to scale back some of the expansion of its logistics network that had weighed on earnings. The cloud-computing business is showing weakness, however, and the push toward electric vehicles is bumpy. Amazon's latest quarter included a pretax valuation loss of $2.3 billion from its investment in Rivian Automotive. Amazon owns about 17% of the EV company, which is now laying off workers and undertaking a retrenching of its own. 

• Amazon told lawmakers that it won’t build storm shelters inside its warehouses. (CNBC)

Boeing delivered its final 747 jumbo jet this week. The four-engine widebody became a mainstay for air cargo trade, offering gaping space on the main desk in freighter configuration. The factory-built version also offered a nose that tilted open, allowing companies to load large containers and shipments like construction equipment that might not fit through a side cargo door. A WSJ video report follows the release of the last new edition of the jet to Atlas Air. And for a visual history of the 747, click here.

• Etihad Airways is considering converting some of its Boeing 777 passenger jets into freighters. (Air Cargo News)

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England each raised their benchmark interest rates by 0.5 percentage point. (WSJ)

New U.S. unemployment claims fell to their lowest level since April 2022. (WSJ)

Prices for jet fuel on the U.S. East Coast are up about 77% since early December. (WSJ)

International officials are advancing plans for a global minimum tax while giving U.S. companies a temporary break from some hikes. (WSJ)

Apple’s quarterly revenue declined for the first time in nearly four years and profits fell. (WSJ)

Shell posted an $11.4 billion fourth-quarter net profit that was boosted by strong liquefied natural gas business. (WSJ)

Ford earned $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter on stronger pricing and improved stock levels. (WSJ)

Bed Bath & Beyond missed interest payments on its bonds as the retailer weighs bankruptcy protection. (WSJ)

Honeywell expects semiconductor supplies to reach normal levels by the end of the year. (WSJ)

Japanese farm equipment maker Kubota is shifting some of its production to the U.S. and India. (Nikkei Asia)

U.S. authorities are detaining imports of aluminum products suspected of being made through forced labor, particularly from China’s Xinjiang region. (Bloomberg)

At least 89 online shopping platforms in China closed last year. (South China Morning Post)

The gap between container shipping rates out of Asia to the U.S. East Coast and the West Coast has narrowed to prepandemic levels. (Journal of Commerce)

DP World will build and operate a container terminal at India’s Deendayal port. (Splash 247)

Fourth-quarter earnings at both freight forwarder DSV and C.H. Robinson Worldwide contracted on declining revenues. (The Loadstar)

Singapore-based Freightify raised $12 million in a Series A funding round backing its maritime platform technology for freight forwarders. (TechCrunch)

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @bylizyoung and @pdberger. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on Twitter at @WSJLogistics.