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by Tom Moeller May 26, 2017
New orders for durable goods declined 0.7% (+0.9% y/y) during April following a 2.3% March rise, revised from 0.7%. Earlier figures also were revised back to 2002. A 1.1% decrease in orders had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
The decline in durable good orders reflected a 1.2% fall in transportation bookings. They were pulled lower by a 9.2% drop (-27.5% y/y) in civilian aircraft orders. Defense aircraft orders gained 7.1% (-8.7% y/y) while motor vehicle & parts orders rose 0.3% (-0.0% y/y).
Electrical equipment orders fell 1.7% (+2.5% y/y) following two months of strong increase. Machinery orders also eased 0.8% (+7.0% y/y), but orders for computers & related products jumped 5.0% (-2.6% y/y). Communication equipment orders gained 4.2% (3.6% y/y). Primary metals orders eased 0.2% (+9.9% y/y) and fabricated metal orders declined 0.9% (+7.5% y/y).
Nondefense capital goods orders declined 1.9% (-2.6% y/y) while orders excluding aircraft remained steady (+2.9% /y) for the third straight month.
Shipments of durable goods edged 0.3% lower (+2.8% y/y) and excluding transportation, shipments were off 0.2% (+4.6% y/y). Backlogs of durable goods orders rose 0.2% (-1.4% y/y) while excluding transportation, unfilled orders increased 0.3% (2.8% y/y). Inventories of durable goods improved 0.1% (1.1% y/y). Inventories excluding the transportation sector increased 0.2% (2.7% y/y).
The durable goods figures are available in Haver's USECON database. The Action Economics consensus forecast figure is in the AS1REPNA database.
| Durable Goods NAICS Classification | Apr | Mar | Feb | Apr Y/Y | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Orders (SA, %) | -0.7 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 0.9 | -1.7 | -4.6 | 4.7 |
| Transportation | -1.2 | 5.3 | 3.6 | -6.0 | -3.4 | -6.2 | 8.2 |
| Total Excluding Transportation | -0.4 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 4.9 | -0.7 | -3.6 | 2.9 |
| Nondefense Capital Goods | -1.9 | 1.9 | 4.2 | -2.6 | -7.1 | -11.0 | 0.9 |
| Excluding Aircraft | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 2.9 | -4.6 | -4.3 | 0.3 |
| Shipments | -0.3 | -0.1 | 0.4 | 2.8 | -1.6 | -0.6 | 3.8 |
| Unfilled Orders | 0.2 | 0.3 | -0.2 | -1.4 | -1.7 | -2.0 | 8.3 |
| Inventories | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.1 | -0.7 | 1.6 | 4.7 |
