In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing yesterday, Emerson Electric Co. reported a 6% drop in underlying orders in October — the first time in two years the company has experienced a year-over-year order decline for a single month. Add in the impact of a strengthening U.S. dollar and the automation and controls vendor saw an overall decline of 15% in October, the company said.
The resurgent U.S. dollar negatively impacted the three-month period from August through October, resulting in an order rate decline of 5% to 10%, despite positive underlying orders, according to the document.
An Emerson spokesperson contacted by Managing Automation declined to elaborate on the filing. The monthly order pattern in August and September was fairly normal, analysts said, but the softness in October points to a trend.