Courtesy of Mish.
Extending the longest streak since the 2008-2009 recession, Factory Orders Unexpectedly Decline 6th Month.
New orders for U.S. factory goods unexpectedly fell in January, posting their sixth straight monthly decline, a sign of weakness in the manufacturing sector.
The Commerce Department said on Thursday new orders for manufactured goods slipped 0.2 percent after a revised 3.5 percent decline in December.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected factory orders to gain 0.2 percent in January after a previously reported 3.4 percent tumble in December.
Bloomberg Consensus Estimate
The Bloomberg Consensus Estimate was also +0.2%, but the forecast range was a very wide -2.5% to 3.0%.
New Orders vs. Shipments
Chart from Bloomberg
To help explain the chart, Bloomberg notes that “Aircraft orders have a long lead to shipment.”
Census Report
Diving into the Census Report, for January vs. December (seasonally adjusted) we find new orders look like this:
- All Manufacturing: -0.2%
- Excluding Transportation: -1.8%
- Excluding Defense: -0.2%
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