Durable Goods Orders Slip for First Time in Five Months

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).