Following the biggest beat on record in January jumping to 55.6, Chicago PMI collapsed in February to a stunning 47.6 – below the lowest estimate from economists. The entire report is a disaster with New orders tumbling, production sharply lower, and employment contracting for the 5th month in a row – to its lowest since March 2009. As one respondent warned, business was just “limping along at the moment with little promise in sight.”

From one-year high “HOPE” to near 7 year low “NOPE”…

As MNI reports,

Business was just “limping along at the moment with little promise in sight”, one purchaser commented in the report.

Other purchasers commented that area business was stifled by state budget hold ups and a lack of an expansion in backlogs while job losses continued, especially among the 50+ and over workers.

This was a 3 standard deviation miss, below the lowest of 38 economist estimates…