Durable Goods Step Back in November

Last month’s bookings for durable goods were down 2.1%, or $5.8 billion less, MoM— well below the consensus expected gain of 0.6%, and another potential sign of a slowing economy. Figures are not adjusted for inflation.

Orders for big-ticket, US-made goods weren’t helped by aircraft and autos. Excluding transportation, new orders were up 0.2%.

Transportation equipment, down for the first time in four months, fell $6.1 billion MoM, or 6.3%, to $91.3 billion. The figure drove the decline in overall durable goods orders for the month, the government data showed.

Shipments of manufactured durable goods rose 0.2%, or $600 million, to $275.9 billion. That’s after a 0.4% increase in October. Transportation, up 13 of the last 14 months, led the increase in that category. It was up $700 million, or 0.8%, to $91.8 billion.

Click here for more detail on the November advance report from the US Census Bureau on durable goods manufacturers’ shipments, inventories, and orders. See also Figure 1 below.

Revised and Recently Benchmarked October Data

Revised seasonally adjusted October figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $553.2 billion (revised from $556.6 billion); shipments, $552.1 billion (revised from $554.8 billion); unfilled orders, $1,143.3 billion (revised from $1,144.0 billion) and total inventories, $804.5 billion (revised from $805.3 billion).

By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com