Economy
September Durable Goods Up, Momentum Slows
Written by David Schollaert
October 28, 2022
New orders for US-manufactured durable goods rose in September to a seasonally adjusted $274.7 billion — having risen now for six out of the last seven months. Orders picked up less than expected but still reversed the weaker showings of previous months.
Last month’s bookings for durable goods were up roughly 0.04% or $1 billion more month-on-month (MoM), following a 0.2% gain a month earlier, according to the US Census Bureau. Figures are not adjusted for inflation.
Orders for big-ticket, US-made goods rose last month, helped by aircraft and autos. But excluding transportation, new orders decreased by 0.5%, as companies pulled back on orders for big-ticket items in September.
Transportation equipment, up five of the last six months, drove the increase by $1.9 billion, or 2.1%, to $95.4 billion, the government data showed.
Shipments of manufactured durable goods, up 16 of the last 17 months, rose 0.3% to $274.2 billion. That’s after a 1.3% increase in August. Transportation equipment, up 11 of the last 12 months, drove the increase, rising 1.1% to $90.5 billion.
Click here for more detail on the September advance report from the US Census Bureau on durable goods manufacturers’ shipments, inventories, and orders. See also Figure 1 below.
Revised and Recently Benchmarked August Data
Revised seasonally adjusted August figures for all manufacturing industries were: New orders, $549.2 billion (revised from $548.4 billion); shipments, $549.0 billion (revised from $547.9 billion); unfilled orders, $1,131.9 billion (revised from $1,132.1 billion); and total inventories, $800.3 billion (revised from $800.2 billion).
By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com
David Schollaert
Read more from David SchollaertLatest in Economy
Durable goods orders rise again in February
Transportation equipment led the increase, rising 1.5% to $98.3 billion.
Consumer confidence falls for fourth consecutive month
People remain concerned about inflation, trade policies, and tariffs.
Housing starts ticked up in February
Single-family starts last month hit a rate of 1.10 million, a month-over-month increase of 11.4%, census data shows.
Architecture billings continued to slide in February
The ABI is a leading indicator for near-term nonresidential construction activity and projects business conditions ~9-12 months down the road (the typical lead time between architecture billings and construction spending).
New York state manufacturing activity tumbles in March
After a modest recovery in February, business activity in New York state’s manufacturing sector declined sharply in March, according to the latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.