Manufacturing Shows Signs of Rebound After Slowdown in Early 2019
The U.S. Census Bureau reported new orders for manufactured durable goods rose $5.0 billion or 2.1% to $250.4 billion in July, beating forecasts. Durable goods orders are now up for two consecutive months after a 1.8% gain in June.
More on New Orders
The consensus forecast was looking for a solid gain of 1.2% for the month.
| Indicator | Prior | Consensus Forecast | Forecast Range | Actual |
| New Orders – M/M ∆ | 2.0% | 1.2% | -1.6% to 2.5% | 2.1% |
| Ex-transportation – M/M ∆ | 1.2% | 0.0% | -0.9% to 1.0% | -0.4% |
| Core capital goods – M/M ∆ | 1.9% | 0.0% | -0.2% to 0.1% | 0.4% |
Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.4%. Excluding defense, new orders rose 1.4%. Transportation equipment, which have also been up for two consecutive months, fueled the gain rising $5.7 billion or 7.0% to $86.3 billion.
Shipments
Shipments of manufactured durable goods are down after two straight monthly gains, falling $2.9 billion or 1.1% to $254.0 billion. That comes after a 1.0% increase in June.
Transportation equipment, which is also down after two consecutive monthly gains, led the decrease falling $1.8 billion or 2.1% to $86.4 billion.
Unfilled Orders
Unfilled orders are up after three straightly months of declines, rising $0.7 billion or 0.1% to $1,161.6 billion. This follows a 0.6% decline in June. Leading the decrease was fabricated metal products after being up for two straight months, falling $0.4 billion or 0.4% to $86.5 billion.
Inventories
Inventories have been up twelve of the last thirteen months, and gained $1.5 billion, or 0.4% to $427.3 billion in July.
That follows a 0.3% increase in June. Transportation equipment, which have also been up twelve of the last thirteen months, led the gain, rising $1.4 billion or 1.0% to $141.1 billion.
Capital Goods
Nondefense new orders for capital goods gained $3.6 billion, or 5.0% to $75.8 billion in July. Shipments fell $2.3 billion, or 3.0% to $74.4 billion, while unfilled orders rose $1.4 billion or 0.2% to $693.6 billion.
Inventories gained $1.4 billion, or 0.7% to $190.5 billion. Defense new orders for capital goods soared $1.5 billion, or 14.4% to $11.8 billion. Shipments fell $0.3 billion or 2.3% to $12.6 billion, while unfilled orders declined $0.8 billion or 0.5% to $155.9 billion. Inventories gained $0.3 billion, or 1.3% to $24.0 billion.
June Revisions
New orders were unchanged at $493.8 billion for the month of June, while shipments were revised to $505.4 billion from $506.2 billion. Unfilled orders were revised to $1,161.0 billion from $1,160.2 billion and total inventories were revised to $695.4 billion from $695.6 billion.
