Factory Orders in U.S. Unexpectedly Decline for Second Month |
| Bloomberg - Jun 4, 2012 |
Orders to U.S. factories unexpectedly fell in April for a second month, pointing to a deceleration in manufacturing as the global economy cools.
Bookings dropped 0.6 percent after a revised 2.1 percent decrease in March, the first back-to-back declines in more than three years, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Economists projected a 0.2 percent gain, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.
Slowdowns in Europe and parts of Asia combined with a cooling in business spending in the U.S. following a reduction in a government tax credit may limit manufacturing this year. A falloff in hiring may also be causing American households to curb spending on big-ticket items like autos, eliminating another source of strength.
“There seems to be a bit of a downshift in business investment,” Guy Berger, an economist at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut, said before the report. “If we see a significant slowing of demand from where we are right now, that’s going to put a hurdle on how fast manufacturing can go.”
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- Posted: 2012-06-04 09:05:56
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