Core US Factory Orders Unexpectedly Shrank In April – Weakest Since COVID

It really should not have been a surprise – given the weakness in Manufacturing PMIs – but headline and core US factory orders disappointed in April (today’s latest data).

The headline factory orders rose just 0.4% MoM (half the 0.8% MoM expected) and worse still, the March data was revised form from +0.9% to +0.6% MoM.

Source: Bloomberg

That left the annual growth in new orders at just 0.2% – the weakest since Oct 2020.

Core factory orders (ex-transports) was even worse, dropping 0.2% MoM (+0.2% MoM exp) – the third straight monthly decline…

Source: Bloomberg

This left core factory orders down 2.2% YoY – the biggest drag since the COVID lockdowns.

How long can the manufacturing side of the economy continue to collapse before the Services side catches down?