New orders for manufactured goods in December were up 1.1% to $466.2 billion for the second month in a row. Shipments continued increasing for the seventh month, up 0.7% while unfilled orders, up 20 of the 21 past months, were up 1.4%. Inventories were up 0.1% to $610.1 billion, reaching the highest level since the report began. The inventories-to-shipments ratio was down slightly to 1.33 in December while durable goods new orders increased. Transportation equipment reported the largest increase of 5.4%.

New orders for nondurable goods dropped 0.4% while shipments of durable goods in December increased 2.2%. Primary metals had the largest increase (+8.7%) while shipments of nondurable goods declined 0.4%. Petroleum and coal products drove the decrease as they were down 2.1%.

By stage of fabrication, the U.S. Census Bureau report said, “December materials and supplies increased 0.8 percent in durable goods and decreased 0.4 percent in nondurable goods. Work in process increased 0.3 percent in durable goods and 0.4 percent in nondurable goods. Finished goods decreased 0.2 percent in durable goods and 0.5 percent in nondurable goods.”

Source: U.S. Census Bureau