US durable goods nosedive in March
The US economy, already bloodied and bruised from soaring fuel prices and rising jobless claims, was dealt another significant blow on Wednesday as the US Commerce Department reported that durable good orders plunged 2.8% in March.
The March numbers represent the largest setback in 2 ½ years and the third straight monthly decline following respective 1.2% and 0.2% drops in January and February.
Upon hearing the news, Wall Street was quick to follow suit with the Dow Jones industrial average dropping more than 60 points in early morning
trading. Meanwhile, gains the US dollar had recently shown against the euro and yen quickly evaporated.
The drop may be a sign of bad things to come for a steel industry that consistently reported strong first-quarter earnings. While orders for primary metals did show a March increase of 1%, orders for steel-heavy goods like motor vehicles dropped 2.4%. Demand for commercial and military aircraft plunged 22.7% and 35% respectively.