Durable Goods Orders Increase for Sixth Month

Motor vehicles and parts orders dipped 3.2 percent to $60.1 billion. The metals industry saw some improvement with orders for fabricated metals up 2.3 percent and primary metals gaining 0.4 percent. Orders for machinery fell 0.6 percent.

Core capital goods—non-defense minus aircraft and a proxy for future investment—rose 0.7 percent following a 1.9 percent surge in September.

Although the economy has been growing, economists are still cautious due to the surge of COVID-19 cases and potential disruptions to business.

The October 2020 advance report on durable goods manufacturers’ shipments, inventories and orders follows:

New Orders

New orders for manufactured durable goods in October increased $3.0 billion or 1.3 percent to $240.8 billion. This increase, up six consecutive months, followed a 2.1 percent September increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.3 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.2 percent. Transportation equipment, up five of the last six months, led the increase by $0.9 billion or 1.2 percent to $77.1 billion.

Shipments

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in October, up five of the last six months, increased $3.1 billion or 1.3 percent to $248.7 billion. This followed a 0.5 percent September increase. Fabricated metal products, also up five of the last six months, led the increase by $0.7 billion or 2.4 percent to $30.9 billion.

Unfilled Orders

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in October, down seven of the last eight months, decreased $2.8 billion or 0.3 percent to $1,073.2 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent September decrease. Transportation equipment, down eight consecutive months, drove the decrease by $4.6 billion or 0.6 percent to $717.0 billion.

Inventories

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in October, up two consecutive months, increased $1.3 billion or 0.3 percent to $422.8 billion. This followed a 0.3 percent September increase. Transportation equipment, up 25 of the last 26 months, led the increase by $0.6 billion or 0.4 percent to $148.2 billion.

Capital Goods

Nondefense new orders for capital goods in October decreased $0.2 billion or 0.2 percent to $70.5 billion. Shipments increased $2.6 billion or 3.7 percent to $73.2 billion. Unfilled orders decreased $2.7 billion or 0.5 percent to $591.3 billion. Inventories increased $0.1 billion or virtually unchanged to $193.6 billion. Defense new orders for capital goods in October increased $2.4 billion or 23.1 percent to $12.7 billion. Shipments increased $0.4 billion or 3.3 percent to $12.5 billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.2 billion or 0.1 percent to $179.7 billion. Inventories decreased $0.1 billion or 0.3 percent to $21.5 billion.

Revised September Data

Revised seasonally adjusted September figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $476.0 billion (revised from $475.0 billion); shipments, $483.9 billion (revised from $482.8 billion); unfilled orders, $1,075.9 billion (unchanged); and total inventories, $686.2 billion (revised from $686.7 billion).