Economic policy makers are trying to take better measure of the supply-chain turmoil that has been buffeting business. Two new studies from regional Federal Reserve banks show factors from shipping costs to broader pressures on the flow of goods have reached levels that are unprecedented in recent times. The WSJ Logistics Report’s Lydia O’Neal writes a St. Louis Fed analysis shows shipping costs have swung far more sharply during the pandemic than during the financial crisis. And economists at New York Fed say their new Global Supply Chain Pressure Index shows strains over the past two years have swung far outside long-term trend lines for the mix of measures that they examined. Supply-chain managers have seen those pressures first-hand in their operations. With the pandemic nearing the two-year mark, there’s now enough data to make deeper assessments about an increasingly significant part of the global economy.  

Some companies are seeking deeper, long-term solutions to the shortcomings in supply chains that have been exposed during the pandemic. The efforts follow stopgap measures that include stockpiling goods and chartering ships, which have provided some relief to manufacturers and retailers but may also have contributed to ongoing backups and strains. In a video report, the WSJ’s Liz Ornitz looks at the related strategies such as near-shoring, re-shoring and regionalization that seek to reset the role of manufacturing and distribution in their supply chains. But retooling a complex web of global production for the long-term goal of supply-chain resilience is a heavy investment, and it could add new risks and costs.

Home builders are trying to step up production but the building-materials supply chain just can’t catch up. Pandemic-related factory closures, transportation delays and port-capacity limits have stymied the flow of windows, garage doors, appliances and other critical components, the WSJ’s Nicole Friedman reports, putting a hard ceiling on the U.S. housing sector’s ability to capitalize on robust demand. That makes the home construction business one of many that are discovering that longstanding supply chains are more fragile than they had believed. Delays for some construction materials seemed to be easing at the end of 2021. But about 90% of home builders surveyed in November were experiencing supply disruptions, up from 75% in January 2021. Builders are responding with tactics such as ordering goods far earlier than normal.  They are also selling homes without critical parts such as gutters, signaling they don’t expect supply chains to catch up anytime soon.

U.S. hiring moderated in December to close out a record year for job gains. (WSJ)

Consumer prices in the eurozone increased at a record pace in the year through December. (WSJ)

FedEx is warning that the spread of the Omicron variant is creating staffing shortages and delaying air shipments. (WSJ)

The backup of container ships at the Southern California ports ticked up to 105 vessels. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Campbell Soup named Daniel Poland as chief supply chain officer following the retirement of longtime executive Rob Furbee. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Bed Bath & Beyond is closing 37 more stores across the U.S. (WSJ)

Samsung Electronics is forecasting a roughly 52% jump in its fourth-quarter operating profit. (WSJ)

Global supply-chain strains are pushing more shippers to use freight rail. (CNN)

BNSF Railway led North American Class 1 freight railroads with 7.4% growth in volume in 2021. (Trains)

Alibaba reorganized the back-end operations of its main Tmall and Taobao Marketplace sites. (South China Morning Post)

Japanese retailer Aeon tabbed Cambodia as its main distribution hub for Southeast Asia. (Nikkei Asia)

A handful of Covid-19 cases in Shenzhen, China, is raising fears of more ship delays at the world's fourth-largest container port. (Splash 247)

The Port of Seattle opened the first phase of its refurbished Terminal 5 container gateway. (Port Technology)

A consortium of energy and transport companies ordered seven liquefied natural gas carriers from China State Shipbuilding. (Lloyd’s List)

Trucker Averitt Express says 76% of the shippers it surveyed plan to ship more in 2022 than they did last year. (Logistics Management)

Amazon is building a 2.1 million-square-foot distribution center in the Wynyard area in the Northern U.K. (Logistics Manager)

Japan has a milk glut after farmers overcorrected production following a dairy shortage several years ago. (Financial Times)

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

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