For the second month in a row, the Richmond Fed Manufacturing survey tumbled more than expected, sliding from -5 to -11 (considerably worse than the small bounce to -4 expected)...
Source: Bloomberg
That is a swing from April 2022 highs in September to post-COVID lows in December.
All three component indexes were lower:
shipments fell from −8 to −17,
new orders decreased from −5 to −14, and
employment edged down from 0 to −1
Worse still, the average growth rates of prices paid and prices received increased in December, and expected price changes over the next 12 months also increased slightly.
Stagflation?
