Durable goods orders for December 2018
- Prior +0.7% (revised to +1.0%)
- Ex transport +0.1% vs +0.3% expected
- Capital goods orders non-defense ex air -0.7% vs +0.2% expected
- Prior capital goods orders non-defense ex air -0.6% (revised to -1.0%)
- Capital goods shipments non-defense ex air +0.5% vs 0.0% exp
- Prior core shipments -0.2%
Don't let the headline deceive you, core orders were poor and the prior was revised down. The shipments number is good for Q4 GDP but the weak orders in November and December don't bode well for the early part of 2019.
The soft business investment dating back to August is not what was promised with the huge corporate tax cut. It's the kind of thing that will keep productivity growth low and sink economic growth back to 2%.
