Importance of Boeing

Given the size of the US economy, it is not usual for a particular company to impact macro economic data. Yet Boeing's report before the weekend has negative implication for April durable and factory orders data, and to a less extent US exports.

Arguably the Boeing report was overshadowed by the US jobs report and the speculation about Greece's tenure in EMU. However, Boeing news was dramatic. Total orders in April collapsed to just two from the outsized 98 orders in March. The 3-month average in March was 51 orders. Moreover, it is the first month since January there were no foreign orders.

Boeing's news then has negative implications for durable goods orders and factory goods orders. News that foreign shipments were light at 26 down from 33 in March also suggests a headwind on US April exports. Boeing order and shipment may be volatile, impacting high frequency time series.

However, the data is sufficiently noisy that the April and March figures combined do not appear to show a deterioration of the underlying trends. During the first four months of the year, Boeing shipped 106 planes to foreign customers compared with 97 in the previous four months. Orders data have shown a marked slowdown. The three month average is now half the average of last November. There could be various factors at work and should be monitored going forward.