LOS ANGELES, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The No. 1 U.S. seaport had its second-busiest year in 2022, even after ongoing West Coast port labor talks, cooling demand for consumer goods and global recession fears reduced cargo volume in the second half of the year.

The Port of Los Angeles handled 9.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) last year. That was down 7.2% from 2021, when the 115-year-old seaport set an all-time cargo record, port officials said.

The Port of Los Angeles and the adjacent Port of Long Beach typically handle about half of U.S. container shipments. The complex lost market share to rival ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts in 2022 after shippers rerouted goods to avoid potential disruptions from contract talks between union dockworkers and their employers.

Shipments for major retailers like Walmart, Home Depot, Target and Amazon.com dominated the U.S. container transportation business, accounting for about half of total volume.

The industry's imports also are shaping up to finish at near record levels in 2022. https://tmsnrt.rs/3WavFPq

That comes despite a sharp drop in the latter half of 2022, when the United States and other countries lifted COVID-19 infection control measures and consumers resumed spending on previously restricted dining, travel and other entertainment. That change in buying behavior swamped stores and warehouses with unsold kitchen gadgets, big-screen televisions, apparel and other goods.

The Port of Los Angeles in December added to its string of monthly import declines with an 8.6% year-over-year drop.

Forecasters expect U.S. import weakness to persist in 2023, but some are starting to predict when the business could rebound.

Trucking company JB Hunt on Wednesday said its customers could be finished clearing unsold inventory some time in the second quarter of 2023, which could set the stage for import reorders in the second half of the year.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Josie Kao)