Posted by Joseph Y. Calhoun, III

Factory orders rose in May:

New orders for manufactured goods in May, up three of the last four months, increased $4.1 billion or 1.2 percent to $347.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. This followed a 0.5 percent April increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.8 percent. Shipments, down ten consecutive months, decreased $3.1 billion or 0.9 percent to $353.3 billion. This was the longest streak of consecutive monthly decreases since the series was first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.5 percent April decrease. Unfilled orders, down eight consecutive months, decreased $1.8 billion or 0.2 percent to $747.3 billion. This was the longest streak of consecutive monthly decreases since November 2001-July 2002. This followed a 1.1 percent April decrease. The unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio was 6.15, up from 6.04 in April. Inventories, down nine consecutive months, decreased $3.2 billion or 0.6 percent to $513.3 billion. This was the longest streak of consecutive monthly decreases since March 2003-January 2004 and followed a 1.2 percent April decrease. The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.45, unchanged from April.

The economic data continues to give mixed signals with some reports showing no sign of recovery and others, like this one, indicating the opposite. That’s pretty typical of an economy making a bottom; the problem is that we don’t know how long any recovery will last and that restrains hiring and investment.