US Factory Orders Disappoint In February… Before Lockdowns Even Began

After a surprise tumble in January (before the virus impacts really hit), US Factory Orders were expected to rebound modestly in February (data released today and still lagging the current effects of the lockdowns and supply chain disruptions).

However, unsurprisingly, Factory Orders were flat (0.0% MoM) in February (below the +0.2% expectations). However, this did lift the YoY change in factory orders into the green (barely) at +0.1% YoY – the first annual gain  since July

Source: Bloomberg

Ex-Transports, factory-orders tumbled 0.9% MoM (the worst since Nov 2018), and YoY declined 0.1%…

Source: Bloomberg

And this is before the lockdowns began…