It was another disastrous factory orders report this month.

December factory orders fell 2.9%

Durable goods orders -5.0%, nondurable goods -0.8%

November factory orders revised from -0.2% to -0.7%.

Core capital goods orders fell steep 4.3%

Inventories rose 0.2%

The inventory-to-sales ratio rose again which portends weakness for future hiring and production.

Shipments fell a steep 1.4%

 The Econoday Consensus Estimate was -2.8%, nearly on the mark in a range of -3.7% to +0.2%. It's mind-boggling that an economist would predict a rise. Are they throwing darts?

Year-over-year core capital spending by manufacturers has been in negative territory for eleven months. Core capital spending is defined as nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft.