Recent Updates
- US: Consumer Prices (Mar)
- Bangladesh: CPI (Mar)
- US: NFIB SMall Business Optimism (Mar)
- Egypt: Steel Sales and Production (Mar), BOP (Q4-Prelim)
- Slovenia: BOP, External Debt Liabilities (Feb)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
FIBER: Industrial Commodity Prices Improve Modestly
The FIBER Industrial Materials Price Index increased 0.9% during the four weeks ended April 9...
EMU Retail Sales Jump, Regaining Some of the January Drop
February finds EU retail sales and motor vehicle registration rebounding...
U.S. PPI Posts Broad-Based Strength in March
The Producer Price Index for final demand jumped 1.0% (4.2% y/y) during March...
U.S. Wholesale Inventories Post Strong February Gain; Sales Fall
Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% (2.0% y/y) during February...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Unexpectedly Increase
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 744,000 during the week ended April 3...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
Monetary Policy Blunder: Not Managing Economic & Financial Outcomes Equally
Monetary Policy at a Crossroad: Policymakers Need to Break Promise of Easy Money to Avoid Boom-Bust
State Coincident Indexes in January
Data Surprises, Markets and COVID
by Tom Moeller April 2, 2015
New orders in the manufacturing sector improved 0.2% during February following a 0.7% January decline, revised from -0.2%. A 0.5% decline was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
Durable goods orders declined 1.4% (+0.5% y/y), the same as in the advance report. Machinery orders dropped 1.4% (-5.5% y/y) and transportation orders were off 3.3% (-2.7% y/y). Electrical equipment orders gained 3.0% (3.0% y/y). Orders for nondurable goods (which equal shipments) increased 1.8% (-8.5% y/y) following sharp declines in the prior five months. The gain was powered by an 11.3% rise (-30.1% y/y) in petroleum orders. Apparel orders were unchanged (13.4% y/y) and basic chemical orders slipped 0.2% (-3.3% y/y). Food product orders were off 0.2% as well (+1.4% y/y). Durable goods shipments slipped 0.2% (+3.9% y/y) led by a 0.3% decline (+3.1% y/y) in electrical machinery. Computers & electronics shipments gained 0.6% (0.1% y/y) and machinery shipments rose 0.6% (0.6% y/y).
Unfilled orders declined 0.5% (+8.8% y/y) while backlogs excluding the transportation sector slipped 0.3% (+5.3% y/y). Machinery backlogs declined 1.0% (+3.2% y/y). Order backlogs of computers & electronic products gained 0.4% (7.8% y/y) while unfilled orders of furniture improved 0.9% (14.3% y/y).
Inventories ticked 0.1% higher (1.3% y/y) but excluding the transportation sector they slipped 0.1% (-0.3% y/y). Nondurable goods inventories edged down 0.1% (-4.9% y/y). That followed a 1.7% January fall which reflected a 10.1% drop in petroleum inventories. Basic chemical inventories fell 0.5% (-1.7% y/y) but apparel inventories gained 1.9% (27.1% y/y). Durable goods inventories rose 0.3% (5.3% y/y). Computers & electronic products inventories increased 0.7% (4.1% y/y) and electrical equipment gained 0.1% (-0.1% y/y).
The factory sector figures are available in Haver's USECON database.
Factory Sector- NAICS Classification (%) | Feb | Jan | Dec | Y/Y | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New Orders | 0.2 | -0.7 | -3.5 | -4.3 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.9 |
Shipments | 0.7 | -2.3 | -0.9 | -2.6 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 4.0 |
Inventories | 0.1 | -0.4 | -0.4 | 1.3 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.4 |
Unfilled Orders | -0.5 | -0.3 | -0.9 | 8.8 | 9.9 | 7.0 | 3.7 |