Recent Updates
- Vietnam: CPI (May)
- Philippines: Producer Price Index (Apr)
- Japan: Labor Force Survey (Apr), Tokyo CPI (May), IP (Apr-Prelim)
- Korea: IP, Construction Orders & Value (Apr), Average Monthly Wages & Hours Worked (Mar)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Pending Home Sales Plunge to Record Low
Pending home sales fell 21.8% in April...
U.S. GDP Decline in Q1'20 is Deepened; Corporate Profits Plunge
Revised GDP figures continue to show sharp falloff in activity...
Kansas City Fed Factory Remains Negative, but Deterioration Moderates
Midwest economic activity continues to decline...
State & Pandemic Assistance Initial Claims Total 46.7 Million in Last Ten Weeks
Initial jobless claims decreased to a still extremely-elevated 2.123 million in the week ending May 23...
Italian Confidence Erodes
Italy's consumer and business indexes plunge in May...
by Tom Moeller March 31, 2005
Factory inventories added 0.5% in February to the prior month's 1.5% spurt. Less petroleum inventories which fell 0.4% (16.7% y/y) the total increased 0.6% (8.3% y/y).
Factory shipments fell 0.9% in part reflecting a 2.9% drop in transportation equipment (-5.1% y/y). Less transportation shipments fell 0.6% (+13.3% y/y).
Orders to the factory sector rose 0.2%. The advance report of a 0.3% rise in durable goods was revised to 0.5% (+7.8% y/y). Nondefense capital goods orders less aircraft fell 1.7% (14.2% y/y).
Unfilled orders jumped 0.6%. The ratio of unfilled orders to shipments for durables recovered most of the prior two months' declines.
| Factory Survey (NAICS) | Feb | Jan | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inventories | 0.5% | 1.5% | 8.6% | 7.5% | -1.3% | -1.8% |
| New Orders | 0.2% | -0.0% | 10.0% | 10.9% | 3.7% | -1.9% |
| Shipments | -0.9% | 1.1% | 10.4% | 10.5% | 2.6% | -2.0% |
| Unfilled Orders | 0.6% | -0.0% | 8.8% | 9.1% | 4.2% | -6.1% |
