Economy

Durable Goods Fall in January on Transportation

February 28, 2023

New orders for US-manufactured durable goods fell 4.5% in January month over month to a seasonally adjusted $272.3 billion, according to the US Census Bureau. They have now been down two of the last three months, according to Census data.

Transportation equipment, also down two of the last three months, drove the decrease in January, sliding 13.3% to $92.8 billion, Census said.

Excluding transportation – which includes big-ticket, non-steel-intensive items such as aircraft – new orders increased 0.7 percent.

New orders for primary metals ticked up 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted $21 million in January vs. December. New orders for fabricated metal products increased 0.1% to $36.2 million in the same comparison.

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

DurableGoods Jan23