Factory Orders Increase While Shipments Accelerate
New orders for manufactured goods increased 1.8% in September after rising 0.3% in August. Meanwhile, new orders for manufactured goods rose 7.2% over the year. Excluding transportation, new orders climbed 1.3% over the month and 7.8% year-over-year in September. Durable goods orders moved up 1.9% after edging up 0.1% in August. Year to date, durable goods orders advanced 8.0%. Nondurable goods orders grew 1.8% over the month and 6.5% over the year.
In September, the largest monthly gain occurred in nondefense aircraft and parts, which jumped 28.3% after ticking up 0.3% in August. By contrast, the largest monthly decline occurred in ships and boats, which fell 9.9% after decreasing 0.7% the prior month. The largest over-the-year changes occurred in industrial machinery (up 40.7%) and nondefense aircraft and parts (down 18.0%).
Factory shipments rose 1.3% in September after inching up 0.1% in August. Shipments grew 7.5% over the year. Shipments excluding transportation stepped up 1.3% in September and 6.9% from September 2025. Durable goods shipments rose 0.9% in September after moving down 0.2% in August, and were up 8.5% year to date. Meanwhile, nondurable goods shipments rose 1.8% after moving up 0.5% the prior month and were up 6.5% year to date.
Unfilled orders for all manufacturing industries increased 0.9% in September after rising 0.6% in August. Unfilled orders over the year jumped 9.0%. Inventories stepped up 0.4% month-over-month and 3.2% year-over-year. The inventories-to-shipments ratio ticked down from 1.47 in August to 1.46 in September. The unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio for durable goods decreased from 6.86 in August to 6.84 in September.
