That negative 1st quarter GDP has been widely passed off as the effect of a particularly severe winter. Things, we were assured, were not that bad and would be getting better as the weather warmed. Well, not so fast. The Commerce Department came out this morning with a report on factory orders that was supposed to be in positive territory. However, as reported on MarketWatch:
Orders for goods produced in U.S. factories slipped 0.4% in April, marking the eighth decline in nine months, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected orders to dip 0.1% after a slightly revised 2.2% increase in the prior month. Orders for durable goods — products meant to last at least three years — fell 1% in April. Orders for nondurable goods rose 0.2%.
All the talk of recovery and an end to quantitative easing seems increasingly like the sound of experts whistling past the graveyard of a possible recession
We are, after all, already halfway there.
