By JOSH FUNK, AP Business Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific Corp.'s third-quarter profit dipped 2% as it hauled 8% fewer carloads of cargo.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad said Thursday it earned $1.56 billion net income, or $2.22 per share. That's down slightly from last year's $1.59 billion, or $2.15 per share.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected earnings of $2.29 per share, on average.

Union Pacific's revenue fell 7% to $5.52 billion, which fell short of the $5.62 billion analysts expected.

The railroad cut its expenses by 10% to $3.28 billion in the quarter to help offset the decline in shipments. Union Pacific has been working to streamline its operations by running trains on a tighter schedule, so it can use fewer locomotives, cars and employees to move the same freight.

Union Pacific shares have increased 18% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen 19%. The stock has climbed nearly 7% in the last 12 months.

The company operates 32,400 miles of track in 23 Western states.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on UNP at https://www.zacks.com/ap/UNP