Lower supply chain costs for retailers may be reaching store shelves. Some merchants say inflation has cooled in many categories, and the WSJ’s Sarah Nassauer and Suzanne Kapner report that retail giant Walmart has seen prices for nonfood items come down more aggressively in recent weeks. Higher prices have helped prop up sales revenue for many retailers as consumers have pared some of their discretionary spending. Walmart saw its U.S. comparable-store sales rise 4.9% in the three months ended Oct. 27. Now, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon says the company would need to further reduce expenses as prices fall further. Cost savings are already coursing through shipping operations. Diesel prices are down nearly 34 cents a gallon in the past two months. The Cass Freight Index measure for freight rates in U.S. domestic markets is down 15.2% since January and the Drewry World Container Index is off 39% since last December.

• Producer prices in the U.S. fell 0.5% last month, the steepest decline since April 2020. (MarketWatch)
• Macy’s turned an unexpected third-quarter profit as improving freight and delivery costs helped offset declining sales. (WSJ)
• Consumer-goods retailer Bath & Body Works expects net sales to decline in the fourth quarter from a year ago. (Barron’s)

The automotive sector is part of the way down the road toward labor peace. United Auto Workers employees at General Motors approved a new 4½-year labor contract, the WSJ’s Nora Eckert reports, ending a tumultuous monthslong bargaining process by a slim margin of votes even as ballots are still out at Detroit’s other big automakers. Voting is still underway at Ford and at Chrysler-parent Stellantis. Workers at those two companies are supporting the agreements by wider margins than at GM, based on the UAW data. At GM, a union spreadsheet shows workers voted 54.7% to approve the labor deal, in a nail-biter count that came after several major factories rejected the contract. The UAW isn’t easing its pressure on the sector. It is now turning to organizing nonrepresented workers at factories owned by foreign automakers and electric-vehicle manufacturers, which has been a challenge for the labor union. 

• Hyundai Motor will start selling new cars on Amazon. (WSJ)
• UAW members at Mack Trucks factories ratified a five-year labor agreement. (Herald-Mail)
• South Korean battery makers are reducing workforces and curtailing production in the U.S. as the transition to electric vehicles slows. (Nikkei Asia)

U.S. industrial production fell 0.6% in October, pulled down by the automotive strike. (MarketWatch)

Alibaba scrapped plans to spin off its cloud-computing division, citing the impact of new U.S. export controls. (WSJ)

A new report says the U.S. air-traffic-control system faces increasing hazards from short staffing, outdated technology and underfunding. (WSJ)

An analysis finds banned Russian oil is flowing through energy supply chains into U.S. military operations. (Washington Post)

The U.S. sanctioned three more shipping companies for violating restrictions on transporting Russian oil. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Parcel delivery drivers across the U.S. are on edge after reports of large groups ambushing trucks and stealing packages. (NBC)

Ocean Network Express placed orders totaling $2 billion for new methanol dual-fuel containerships from Chinese shipyards. (TradeWinds)

Mediterranean Shipping will work with Italian railway Ferrovie dello Stato to expand connections to and from Italian ports. (ShippingWatch)

Heavy snowfalls in Anchorage, Alaska, are triggering flight cancellations and driving up airfreight rates out of Asia. (Air Cargo News)

Staffing and water-supply shortages at an Arizona production site cut into third-quarter revenue at meal-kit company HelloFresh. (MarketWatch)

Flexport is adding a 1.1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Phillipsburg, N.J. (Supply Chain Dive)

A survey of U.K. shoppers found parcel firms delivered “miserable” service for the third straight year. (Wales Online)

• Walgreens wants the corner drugstore to become an online delivery hub. 
• A California law to collect diversity data from venture funds could apply to a wider pool of assets and asset managers. 
• EY picks Janet Truncale as its global chair as the accounting firm looks to put its failed split behind.
• 🎧 Listen to Laura Deming of Longevity Fund discuss futuristic solutions to aging.

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 X at @WSJLogistics.