Want to know why the economy has seen jobs eroding over the last two months? Today’s report from the Commerce Department on factory orders
gives an unpleasant explanation. Orders fell by 0.6%, the third
decline in this area in four months and a demonstration that falling
demand is becoming a serious issue:
New orders for manufactured goods in April, down three of
the last four months, decreased $2.9 billion or 0.6 percent to $466.0
billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. This followed a 2.1
percent March decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased
1.1 percent. Shipments, down following four consecutive monthly
increases, decreased $1.5 billion or 0.3 percent to $473.2 billion. This
followed a 0.1 percent March increase. Unfilled orders, down following
twenty-seven consecutive monthly increases, decreased $0.8 billion or
0.1 percent to $985.4 billion. This followed a slight March increase.
The unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio was 6.33, up from 6.29 in March.
Inventories, up twenty-two of the last twenty-three months, increased
$0.1 billion to $607.2 billion. This was at the highest level since the
series was first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.1
percent March increase. The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.28,
unchanged from March.
More details from Hot Air. This is hardly the economic recovery Obama promised.
