Economy

Durable Goods Exceeded Expectations in October

November 28, 2022

New orders for US-manufactured durable goods rose in October to a seasonally adjusted $277.4 billion. That figure has risen for seven out of the last eight months. Shipments picked up as well last month despite persistent inflation and global economic instability.

Last month’s bookings for durable goods were up roughly 1%, or $2.8 billion more month-on-month (MoM)—ahead of a consensus expected gain of 0.4%, according to the US Census Bureau. Figures are not adjusted for inflation.

Orders for big-ticket, US-made goods were helped by aircraft and autos. But excluding transportation, new orders decreased by 0.5%.

Transportation equipment, which has increased six of the last seven months, was up $2 billion, or 2.1%, to $97.8 billion, the government data showed.

Shipments of manufactured durable goods, up 16 of the last 17 months, rose 0.4% to $275.4 billion. That’s after a 0.3%-increase in September. Machinery, up 19 of the last 20 months, led the increase in that category. It was up $0.5 billion, or 1.3%, to $38.9 billion.

Click here for more detail on the October advance report from the US Census Bureau on durable goods manufacturers’ shipments, inventories, and orders. See also Figure 1 below.

DurableGoods Oct22

Revised and Recently Benchmarked September Data

Revised seasonally adjusted September figures for all manufacturing industries were as follows: new orders, $551.0 billion (unchanged from $551.0 billion); shipments, $550.8 billion (revised from $550.3 billion); unfilled orders, $1,137.3 billion (revised from $1,137.8 billion), and total inventories, $801.2 billion (revised from $801.6 billion).

By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.