For the 5th month in a row, Kansas City Fed missed expectations by an inmcreaisngly large amount. May's -13 print is the worst since April 2009, and is the biggest drop since 2009. Every single individual component also tumbled led by orders, backlog, number of employees and average workweek. Firmly in recession territory, the respondents comments are stunningly reminiscent of the great recession (or depression)...
Recession.. .or no recession!?
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The breakdown is a disaster...
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“We had a good first quarter but the brakes have been applied since the start of May. Looks like our business will be down compared to last May.”
“It is becoming increasingly difficult to find qualified job candidates who are not carrying some form of personal baggage / problem.”
“We are continuing to operate at full capacity but the volume of new orders has slowed significantly with the ongoing cutbacks in E&P expenditures.”
“We laid off 8% of the workforce over the last two months. The low price of oil combined with dropping steel prices has caused adverse volatility in new orders and margins. The strong dollar is beginning to incent unabated dumping of product at prices that challenge our raw material cost from domestic sources. The cost and complexity of government regulation continues to steer even more resources and attention away from productive economic activities.”
“The drop in oil prices has impacted our business severely for the worse.”
“We see no end to the sudden slowdown in business. Our customers also see no turnaround. We have gone to a four-day workweek and still struggle to keep our workers busy.”
Charts: Bloomberg
