Challenger, Gray & Christmas remarked that layoffs moved higher in June. “The number of planned job cuts announced by U.S.-based employers increased by 4,297 or 11.6 percent to 41,432 in June.”

The information was followed almost immediately by news that the Non-Manufacturing ISM Report On Business posted poor numbers. “The NMI registered 53.3 percent in June, 1.3 percentage points lower than the 54.6 percent registered in May, a
nd indicating continued growth at a slower rate in the non-manufacturing sector.” The only positive information is that price inflation fell off slightly.

Imports fell by 1.5%. New orders were off 3.2%, a particularly bad omen for the next few months. Backlog of orders was down 6.5%. Imports were down 4%.

If the economy is not in a recession at this point, then “recession” has been misdefined.

Douglas A. McIntyre