Economy
Durable Goods Orders Slip for First Time in Five Months
Written by Sandy Williams
May 29, 2017
Orders of manufactured durable goods orders decreased 0.7 percent in April, according to the Department Commerce.
“The shipment of capital good non-defense ex-aircrafts came in at -0.1% MoM vs. +0.5% consensus and March was revised down to +0.2% from +0.5% prior — this doesn’t bode particularly well for second-quarter GDP,” noted BMO Capital Markets.
The press release from the Department of Commerce follows:
May 26, 2017 — The U.S. Census Bureau announces the April advance report on manufacturers’ shipments, inventories and orders:
New Orders
New orders for manufactured durable goods in April decreased $1.6 billion or 0.7 percent to $231.2 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This decrease, down following four consecutive monthly increases, followed a 2.3 percent March increase. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.4 percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 0.8 percent. Transportation equipment, down following two consecutive monthly increases, led the decrease, $1.0 billion or 1.2 percent to $78.5 billion.
Shipments
Shipments of manufactured durable goods in April, down three of the last four months, decreased $0.7 billion or 0.3 percent to $233.0 billion. This followed a 0.1 percent March decrease. Transportation equipment, down six of the last seven months, led the decrease, $0.4 billion or 0.5 percent to $77.2 billion.
Unfilled Orders
Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in April, up two consecutive months, increased $2.4 billion or 0.2 percent to $1,122.9 billion. This followed a 0.3 percent March increase. Transportation equipment, also up two consecutive months, led the increase, $1.3 billion or 0.2 percent to $766.6 billion.
Inventories
Inventories of manufactured durable goods in April, up nine of the last ten months, increased $0.6 billion or 0.1 percent to $394.2 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent March increase. Fabricated metal products, up three of the last four months, led the increase, $0.3 billion or 0.6 percent to $48.4 billion.
Capital Goods
Nondefense new orders for capital goods in April decreased $1.4 billion or 1.9 percent to $70.4 billion. Shipments decreased $0.4 billion or 0.5 percent to $69.7 billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.7 billion or 0.1 percent to $697.3 billion. Inventories decreased $1.2 billion or 0.7 percent to $176.7 billion. Defense new orders for capital goods in April increased $0.4 billion or 4.2 percent to $10.2 billion. Shipments increased $0.2 billion or 1.7 percent to $10.2 billion. Unfilled orders decreased less than $0.1 billion or virtually unchanged to $141.7 billion. Inventories increased $0.7 billion or 3.0 percent to $22.3 billion.
Revised and Recently Benchmarked March Data
Revised seasonally adjusted March figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $468.9 billion (revised from $467.7 billion); shipments, $469.9 billion (revised from $470.5 billion); unfilled orders, $1,120.5 billion (revised from $1,119.0 billion) and total inventories, $648.5 billion (revised from $648.3 billion).
Sandy Williams
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