ECONODAY: May proved to be a generally weak month for the factory sector. Minus signs spread across the durable goods report with total new orders down a very sizable 2.2 percent and ex-transportation orders, which exclude aircraft and vehicles, down 0.3 percent. The worst news comes from capital goods, a sector where weakness points to weakness in business investment and ultimately the nation's productivity. Orders for core capital goods fell 0.7 percent in the month while shipments, which are inputs into the nonresidential investment component of GDP, fell 0.5 percent...
