After solid growth for most of the year, cargo traffic at the Port of Los Angeles dipped slightly in August, according to figures released Friday. Traffic was up at the neighboring Port of Long Beach, which has seen its cargo numbers decline in most months this year.

Los Angeles port terminals handled 706,669 cargo containers last month, down 2.3 percent from the previous August. Imports were down 4.1 percent and exports fell 10.1 percent, likely reflecting a cooling economy in China, port officials said.

In Long Beach, terminals handled 543,445 containers, up a modest 1.4 percent from August 2011. Imports were up 2.9 percent and exports up 5.7 percent.

Historically, cargo numbers for the twin ports have moved more or less in unison, but this year has been an exception, with Los Angeles 5 percent ahead of last year and Long Beach down 7.4 percent. Taken together, the port numbers show essentially no growth – up just eight tenths of 1 percent so far this year.