US Core Factory Orders First Annual Contraction Since Dec 2020

Headline factory orders for March disappointed e3xpectations, rising 0.9% MoM versus +1.3% MoM expected (and Feb's 0.7% decline was revised down to 1.1% MoM decline). That pushed the YoY growth in factory orders to just +1.4% YoY - the weakest since Feb 2021...

Source: Bloomberg

However, Core Factory Orders plunged 0.7% MoM in March (the same as the 0.7% decline in February)...

Source: Bloomberg

That is the first annual contraction in core factory orders since Dec 2020.

Final Durable Goods Orders printed as expected (and anticipated by the flash print) up a sizable 3.2% MoM (thanks to Boeing) but just 0.2% MoM Ex-Transports (which is less than the flash +0.3% MoM).

So factory orders contracting but prices paid re-accelerating... more stagflation signals.