US Economic Data Roundup

Durable Goods Orders Dropped Again in December

Orders for durable goods decreased by 2.6% last month to a seasonally adjusted $176.80 billion, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Orders fell 5.7% in 2008 compared to the previous year as the recession worsened. Orders increased by 1.3% in 2007. The 5.7% decline last year was the second largest ever, topped only by a 10.7% plunge in 2001.

A key barometer of business equipment spending, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, fell by 2.8%, after increasing 1.7% in November. Orders were flat in 2008. December shipments for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, used by the government when calculating gross domestic product figures, rose by 0.9% in December after dropping 1.4% the previous month. Unfilled orders, a sign of future demand, decreased in December by 1.3%, the biggest drop since October 2002. Core durable goods orders (ex-transportation) fell by 3.6% in December. Orders dropped 7.2% for computers and electronics, 5.0% for machinery, 3.6% for fabricated metals, and 6.9% for primary metals. Orders climbed 9.4% for electrical equipment. Motor vehicles and parts decreased by 5.2% last month and were down 19.6% on the year.

New Home Sales

New home sales set a new all-time low with sales running at just a 331,000 unit pace. A net revision for the last three months took 40,000 units. Sales of new homes fell 14.7 percent in December, and are nearly 45 percent off of their year-ago pace. A weak economy coupled with the problems we have had for several years may continue to put downward pressure on sales. However, lower interest rates and talk of further help from Washington may mean a bottom comes sooner rather than later.

German Unemployment Change

The number of unemployed persons looking for a job in Germany for the month of January rose by 56K, much stronger than what analysts had expected. The unemployment number in Germany has been in a strong downtrend since 2005, but it seems the economic slowdown that the German economy faces had reach the job market. Previously, the unemployment rate reached a 16-years low. Unemployment rate climbed highly to 7.8% from 7.7% in the previous month as business activities slowed down and companies cut positions. In the coming few months, we will likely see further rise in unemployment rate.

US Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index Improves is January

Manufacturing activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic states improved to -49 reading in January, a rebound from last month's record low reading of -55. Sub components of this index rosed like Shipments increased to a reading -54, while the new orders component rose 16 points to -50. The employment index held steady at -40. Capacity utilization climbed to -46 while the orders backlog increased 18 points to -41.

(The monthly Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index is a gauge of broad activity of manufacturers based in the Carolinas, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. It is a composite index representing a weighted average of the shipments, new orders and employment indexes.)

Canada's Federal Budget Ahead and CAD Suffer Broad Based Losses

The highly anticipated of the Canadian budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year is being met with marked Canadian dollar softness on Tuesday. Many of the details have already been leaked, with talk of permanent tax cuts and a deficit of $64 billion over the next two years being two main items.

US Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Slide

Us Consumer Confidence came worse than expected in January. Its came in at new all time low at 37.7 following December upwardly revised 38.6 which was the previous all time low. Market experts were expected to come at 39. Present Component fell to 29.9 from 30.2 and Expectation Component declined to 43 from 44.2. Those anticipating business conditions to worsen over the next six months fell to 31.1% from 32.9%, while those expecting conditions to improve declined to 13.3% from 13.4% in November.