Manufacturing data fuel US recession fears: durable goods fell 5.3 per cent

Manufacturing data fuel US recession fears | By Chris Bryant in Washington | Published: February 27 2008

US manufacturing orders on Wednesday recorded their biggest decline in five months and new home sales slumped to a 13-year low, compounding fears that the US economy may be sliding into recession.

Orders for big-ticket manufactured items fell 5.3 per cent in January, exceeding economists’ expectations of only a 3.5 per cent decline. The disappointing headline result wiped out a revised 4.4 per cent increase in December, when buoyant aircraft sales had provided a boost to the figures.
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The durable goods figures followed a dire reading last week on the Philadelphia Federal Reserve manufacturing index, which also deteriorated unexpectedly.

Excluding transportation, durable orders fell a comparatively modest 1.6 per cent this month. However, this was still more than twice the expected decline.

There was mixed news concerning core capital goods orders, a key measure of business spending on machinery and equipment, which fell a modest 1.4 per cent, paring an upwardly revised 5.2 per cent gain in December. Core capital goods shipments rose 0.1 per cent. ...