US Factory Orders Rise In March... But February Saw Yet Another Downward Revision

The roller-coaster ride of US durable goods and factory orders continued in March (final data just released) as the flip-flopping data series

Having plunged by the most since COVID lockdowns in January, US factory orders continued to accelerate in March, +1.6% MoM (as expected) - but February was revised lower... again. This pushed the YoY factory orders up 1.7% (nominal)...

Source: Bloomberg

This is the 17th monthly downward revision in the last 22 months... come on!!!

Source: Bloomberg

Core Factory Orders also rose MoM (+0.5% vs +0.2% exp)...

Source: Bloomberg

The final durable goods orders data prints for March were in line with the preliminary data but more problematically - Capital Goods Shipments Non-Defense Ex-Air was flat MoM, downwardly revised from the initial print...

Source: Bloomberg

...strongly suggesting the capex cycle is stalling.