Economy
Durable goods orders slip in October
Written by Ethan Bernard
November 22, 2023
New orders for manufactured durable goods fell in the US in October.
The US Census Bureau said on Wed., Nov. 22, that October new orders fell 5.4%, or $16.0 billion, to $279.4 billion from the previous month. This comes on the heels of a 4% September increase.
Excluding transportation, new orders were “virtually unchanged,” Census said. Transportation includes non-steel-intensive items such as aircraft. And excluding defense, new orders dropped 6.7% month over month to $261.6 billion.
Transportation equipment, also down three of the last four months, drove the decrease, Census said.
New orders for primary metals decreased by 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted $26.46 billion in October from September’s $26.60 billion. Fabricated metal products orders inched up 0.4% month on month to $36.5 billion from $36.37 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.

Ethan Bernard
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