Manufacturers' shipments, inventories & orders report for April
25 May '07
2 min read
New Orders: New orders for manufactured durable goods in April increased $1.3 billion or 0.6 percent to $217.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced. This was the fifth increase in the last six months and followed a 5.0 percent March increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.5 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.6 percent.
Fabricated metal products, up following two consecutive monthly decreases, had the largest increase, $1.0 billion or 3.8 percent to $26.5 billion.
Shipments: Shipments of manufactured durable goods in April, up two consecutive months, increased $4.0 billion or 1.9 percent to $213.1 billion. This followed a 1.3 percent March decrease.
Unfilled Orders: Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in April, up twenty-three of the last twenty-four months, increased $12.5 billion or 1.8 percent to $718.6 billion. This was at the highest level since the series was first stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 1.8 percent March increase. Transportation equipment, up fifteen consecutive months, had the largest increase, $10.9 billion or 2.8 percent to $405.4 billion.
Inventories: Inventories of manufactured durable goods in April, up fourteen consecutive months, increased $1.5 billion or 0.5 percent to $313.0 billion. This followed a 0.1 percent March increase. Transportation equipment, up seven of the last eight months, had the largest increase, $1.4 billion or 1.8 percent to $77.1 billion.