Core Durable Goods Orders Decline In May; Growth Scare Grows As Shipments Plunge

New Orders for Durable Goods in the US rose by just 0.1% MoM in preliminary May data (better than the -0.5% exp, but that was thanks to a major downward revision in April from +0.6% to +0.2%).

Source: Bloomberg

The last four months have seen gains ebb rapidly and now durable goods orders are down 1.2% on a YoY basis.

Of course this is constantly flattered before its revised later – 4 of the last 5 months have been revised lower (and 8 of the last 12)…

Source: Bloomberg

Core Capital Goods Orders (non-defense, ex-aircraft) plunged 0.6% MoM (well below the +0.1% exp), matching the biggest drop this year…

Source: Bloomberg

…with both defense and non-defense spending slowing…

Source: Bloomberg

Furthermore, Capital Goods shipments non-defense, ex-aircraft plunged 0.5% MoM – a big drop for a key signal of business spending and GDP…

Source: Bloomberg

How many times can a data series be downwardly revised before conspiracies about manipulated data flip from theory to actual ‘standard operating procedure’?