Coming after an uptick in NY mfr’g and broad weakness in the Philly region, the July Richmond mfr’g survey was well below expectations at -17 vs -3 in June and the estimate of -1. It’s the weakest since April ’09 led by an 18 pt drop in New Orders to -25 and a 23 pt fall in Shipments to -18. The Employment component was down by 7 pts to +1 and the Workweek fell to -7. Backlogs and Capacity Utilization were also lower by 13 and 12 pts respectively. Prices Paid and Received were little changed. The 6 month Outlook fell across the board except for capital expenditures but all categories remained positive. Bottom line, today’s figure adds to the slowdown thesis that is becoming well apparent in Q2 earnings reports seen thus far with just the degree of the weakness looking forward being the question.
