Big miss, US April 2012 factory orders drop 'unexpectedly,' March revised down

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Huge miss to expectations and 3rd drop in 4 months.

6/4/12, "Factory Orders in U.S. Unexpectedly Dropped in April," Bloomberg, Alex Kowalski

"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....

Stocks dropped, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down more than 10 percent from this year’s high....

The Commerce Department revised the March figure from a previously estimated 1.9 percent decrease....

The last time bookings decreased in consecutive months was in February and March 2009....

Demand for non-durable goods, including petroleum, dropped 1.1 percent.

Orders for capital goods excluding aircraft and military equipment, a measure of future business investment, decreased 2.1 percent after falling 2.3 percent in March, bigger declines than the government reported last month....

The expiration at the end of 2011 of a tax incentive allowing 100 percent depreciation on equipment purchases may have prompted a slowdown in investments this year. The allowance for 2012 is 50 percent....

Sales of cars and light trucks slowed to a 13.7 million annual rate in May, the weakest so far this year, industry data from Ward’s Automotive Group showed last week. Purchases in the first four months of 2012 ran at the fastest pace in four years.

The labor market stumbled in May as employers added the fewest workers in a year and the unemployment rate rose, figures from the Labor Department showed last week....

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6/4/12, "Factory Orders Add Insult To Economic Injury," ZeroHedge

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5/2/12, "US March Factory Orders Post Biggest Drop In 3 Years," NASDAQ.com

"U.S. factory orders fell at the sharpest pace in three years in March, a sign that demand is slowing amid an uneven economic recovery.

Orders for manufactured goods declined 1.5% to $460.46 billion, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That matched expectations of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.

Factory orders over the previous month were revised down, as well, to a 1.1% increase from an initial estimate for a 1.3% gain.

Demand for durable goods, expensive products made to last at least three years, tumbled 4.0% in March. "...

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