January durable goods orders decrease 4.5%
New orders for manufactured durable goods in January, down two of the last three months, decreased $13.0 billion or 4.5 percent to $272.3 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced February 27. This followed a 5.1 percent December increase.
Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.7 percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 5.1 percent. Transportation equipment, also down two of the last three months, drove the decrease, $14.2 billion or 13.3 percent to $92.8 billion.
Shipments of manufactured durable goods in January, down following 16 consecutive monthly increases, decreased $0.2 billion or 0.1 percent to $277.2 billion. This followed a 0.4 percent December increase. Transportation equipment, down following 10 consecutive monthly increases, drove the decrease, $1.6 billion or 1.7 percent to $92.2 billion.
Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in January, up 29 consecutive months, increased $0.3 billion or virtually unchanged to $1,157.0 billion. This followed a 1.1 percent December increase. Transportation equipment, up twenty-three of the last twenty-four months, drove the increase, $0.7 billion or 0.1 percent to $684.6 billion.
Inventories of manufactured durable goods in January, down following twenty-three consecutive monthly increases, decreased $0.4 billion or 0.1 percent to $493.1 billion. This followed a 0.7 percent December increase. Transportation equipment, down following two consecutive monthly increases, led the decrease, $0.3 billion or 0.2 percent to $158.3 billion.
Capital Goods
Nondefense new orders for capital goods in January decreased $15.2 billion or 15.3 percent to $83.9 billion. Shipments decreased $0.8 billion or 1.0 percent to $84.3 billion. Unfilled orders decreased $0.4 billion or 0.1 percent to $664.1 billion. Inventories decreased $0.5 billion or 0.2 percent to $218.5 billion. Defense new orders for capital goods in January increased $0.6 billion or 3.8 percent to $15.8 billion. Shipments decreased $0.2 billion or 1.2 percent to $14.9 billion. Unfilled orders increased $0.9 billion or0.5 percent to $189.2 billion. Inventories increased $0.2 billion or 0.9 percent to $23.2 billion.
Revised December Data
Revised seasonally adjusted December figures for all manufacturing industries were: new orders, $551.6 billion (revised from $552.5 billion); shipments, $543.9 billion (revised from $543.3 billion); unfilled orders,
$1,156.7 billion (revised from $1,158.0 billion) and total inventories, $807.9 billion (revised from $807.8 billion).
INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The November/December issue of Industrial Supply magazine features an in-depth cover story about Kimball Midwest. Plus, we're featuring articles by contributing writers Dirk Beveridge, Frank Hurtte, and Mike Marks, as well as interviews with numerous product and distribution industry experts.
