New orders for manufactured durable goods fall in Feb
27 Mar '08
3 min read
U.S. Census Bureau announces Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories and Orders February 2008.
New Orders: New orders for manufactured durable goods in February decreased $3.6 billion or 1.7 percent to $210.6 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced. This was the second consecutive monthly decrease and followed a 4.7 percent January decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 2.6 percent.
Excluding defense, new orders decreased 1.6 percent. Machinery, down following two consecutive monthly increases, had the largest decrease, $4.2 billion or 13.3 percent to $27.1 billion. This was the largest percentage decrease since the series was first stated on a NAICS basis in 1992.
Shipments: Shipments of manufactured durable goods in February, down three of the last four months, decreased $6.0 billion or 2.8 percent to $210.5 billion. This followed a 2.3 percent January increase.
Unfilled Orders: Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in February, up thirty-three of the last thirty-four months, increased $6.1 billion or 0.8 percent to $820.6 billion. This was at the highest level since the series was first stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.8 percent January increase.
Transportation equipment, up twenty-eight of the last twenty-nine months, had the largest increase, $6.9 billion or 1.4 percent to $485.3 billion.
Inventories: Inventories of manufactured durable goods in February, up seven of the last eight months, increased $1.6 billion or 0.5 percent to $323.7 billion. This was also at the highest level since the series was first stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.6 percent January increase. Transportation equipment, up thirteen of the last fourteen months, had the largest increase, $0.9 billion or 1.1 percent to $83.9 billion.