US Manufacturers New Orders Crash BY Most Ever (And April Will Be Worse)

Amid collapsing employment, crashing sentiment signals, and carnage in any hard data signals around the world, it is no surprise that analysts expected a 9.7% MoM plunge in factory orders in March (still before the major lockdowns in April).

But the actual print, down 10.3% MoM, was notably worse and sent Factory orders down 11.4% YoY - the worst since the great financial crisis (ignoring the 2014/5 aberration)

Source: Bloomberg

This is the biggest monthly drop ever...

Source: Bloomberg

The surge and plunge in July/August 2014 was largely driven by an Ex-Im Bank-sponsored ordering-spree for Boeing jets., and so realistically should not be counted as a systemic shift in the economy.

Additionally, the final print for overall durable goods new orders also worsened from -14.4% MoM to -14.7% MoM.

Source: Bloomberg

Ex-Transports, the drop was modest (and likely to get a lot worse) but it was a bloodbath in transports, defense, and motor vehicles...

Source: Bloomberg

This is the biggest drop in Non-defense Aircraft and Parts new orders... ever...

Source: Bloomberg

We suspect these numbers will get notably worse as we enter April when most of the world was locked-down.