Each month the factory order report is a re-issue of durable goods from the week before with (usually) minor revisions plus a new look at nondurable goods shipments and inventories. This month the durable goods order gain was trimmed from a small rise of 2.5% to an even tinier rise of 1.7% for February following a plunge in January. The new data for February are for nondurable goods. Orders there rose by a meager 0.2% in the month. Over three months they are weak with shipments dropping by 1%. But the good news is that progress on inventory reduction is in train as inventories dropped by 4.4% in February.

The overall trends for the factory sector cut into three month blocks shows some revival in shipments compared to past trends. And there is a relatively sharp fall off in (still high) unfilled orders. Inventories are undergoing a gradual slowing in their build up. New orders continue to drop and at a slightly accelerated pace.

Sector detail for nondurables shows a lot of weakness. Beverages are weak as are the Textile Mill and Product sectors. For Textiles inventory reduction is being achieved at a very rapid pace. Apparel has just turned positive and Leather Goods shows considerable strength. Paper Products and Printing are weak with shipments declining. Petroleum & Coal and Plastics & Rubber also are seeing shipment declines. Basic Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals & Medicines have turned sharply positive.

These are the readings that are new in the day’s report. They are hardly encouraging.