Cutting Tool Orders Highest since July

Real cutting tool orders were $177.2 million in October 2015. Compared with October 2014, real orders were down 16.2 percent. This was the sixth straight month of month-over-month contraction. And, October was the fastest contraction of those six months. The annual rate of change contracted for the first time since May 2014. While there is not much history to work from with this report, there are a number of potential leading indicators for this data series, including durable goods production, durable goods new orders, and the Gardner Business Index. All three of the aforementioned leading indicators are pointing towards slower annual growth in cutting tool orders.