Economy

Factory Orders Fell Less than Expected in February

Industry production 4.0 and technology concept, depicting factory production on a conveyor belt with factory operational workers in uniform. (Photo: AdobeStock)

U.S. factory orders fell slightly less than the forecast in February, declining $2.6 billion or 0.5% to $497.5 billion. The U.S. Census Bureau reported new orders for manufactured goods are down four of the last five months.

The consensus forecast was -0.6%, with forecasts ranging from a low of -1.6% to a high of 0.2%.

Release Date: 4/8/2019 10:00:00 AM For February, 2019

	Prior	Consensus Forecast	Forecast Range	Actual
Factory Orders – M/M	0.1%	-0.6%	-1.6% to 0.2%

Shipments, up following four consecutive monthly decreases, increased $2.0 billion or 0.4% to $505.5 billion. This followed a 0.3% January decrease. Unfilled orders, down four of the last five months, fell $3.6 billion or 0.3% to $1,177.6 billion. This followed a 0.1% January increase.

The unfilled orders‐to‐shipments ratio was 6.54, down from 6.57 in January. Inventories, up twenty‐seven of the last twenty‐eight months, increased $2.0 billion or 0.3% to $687.8 billion. This followed a 0.5% gain in January.

The inventories‐to‐shipments ratio was 1.36, unchanged from January.

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Richard D. Baris

Rich, the People's Pundit, is the Data Journalism Editor at PPD and Director of the PPD Election Projection Model. He is also the Director of Big Data Poll, and author of "Our Virtuous Republic: The Forgotten Clause in the American Social Contract."