NewsMine — economy — united-states — 2007-jan-may — Viewing Item

Factory orders plunge { March 6 2007 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/production/2007-03-06-factory-orders_N.htm http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/production/2007-03-06-factory-orders_N.htm Factory orders plunge by largest amount in 6 years March 6, 2007 WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories fell by the largest amount in 6½ years in January, reflecting widespread declines across a number of industries. The Commerce Department reported that total orders dropped 5.6% in January, the biggest decline since July 2000, a period when the economy was slowing sharply in advance of an actual recession which began in 2001. The government said that orders for big-ticket durable goods plunged 8.7%, even bigger than the 7.8% drop that had been reported a week ago. That report, which increased worries about the economy's health, played a role in the 416-point single-day drop in the Dow Jones industrial average a week ago. The report on factory orders, coupled with other data showing weaker-than-expected activity, has raised concerns that the current economic slowdown may be more serious than previously expected. However, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress last week that he had seen nothing in the latest reports to change the Fed's outlook for moderate growth this year. The weakness in manufacturing was led by a 19% fall in orders for transportation products, reflecting a 6.7% drop in the struggling auto industry and a 60.2% plunge in demand for commercial airplanes. The airplane category, which is extremely volatile, had posted a huge increase in December, reflecting an unusually large of orders to airplane giant Boeing (BA). When transportation was stripped out, orders fell 2.9%, their largest slide since September. Stripping out defense goods, orders fell 5.5%, the largest monthly slide on record. Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a proxy for business spending, were off 6.3%, the largest decrease since January 2004. All non-defense capital goods orders plummeted 20.2%, the biggest drop on record. In a sign businesses are managing their stockpiles, inventories fell 0.2% in January, the first decline since February of 2006. Still, the inventories-to-shipments ratio, a measure of how many months it would take to exhaust stores of goods, edged up to 1.23 months' time from 1.22 in December. Orders for non-durable goods, items such as petroleum and food, fell 2% in January after a 1.5% increase in December. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Almost 7m kids die a year from hunger Anxiety over housing market pulls down stocks { March 28 2007 } Credit counselors overwhelmed by mortgage crisis Dollar drops under half british pound { March 2007 } Dollar may fall on weak manufacturing { December 2007 } Dollar nears record low against euro { March 2007 } Dow fell over 500 points { January 2007 } Dow hits 12800 record high { March 2007 } Existing home sales fall 8 percent { March 2007 } Factory orders plunge { March 6 2007 } Gold selloff continues to cover equity losses { February 2007 } Greenspan warns of US recession { January 2007 } Hershey cuts jobs builds plant in mexico { January 2007 } Home prices to fall for first time since great depression { April 12 2007 } Investers sell gold to recover market losses { January 2007 } January 2007 new homes sales fall 17 percent Jobless numbers highest in weeks { December 2007 } Late mortgage payments up forclosures surge { March 14 2007 } Retail sales fell sharply last month { May 11 2007 } Soaring rates risks 2m american homes { March 14 2007 } Stocks plummet on subprime concerns Trade deficit with china reaches record 214b { January 10 2007 } US food prices spiked { March 2007 } US productivity growth behind EU for first time { December 2007 } Wallstreet plummets after chinese stocks drop { January 2007 } Files Listed: 25

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