Manufactured Goods Orders Fall in October as Durable Goods Decline

New orders for manufactured goods declined 1.3% in October, following a 0.2% increase in September. Meanwhile, new orders for manufactured goods grew 3.3% over the year. When excluding transportation, new orders inched down 0.2% over the month but moved up 0.8% over the year in October. Orders for durable goods decreased 2.2%, following a 0.6% rise in September. Year to date, durable goods orders are up 7.1%. Meanwhile, nondurable goods orders slipped 0.4% in October, after inching down 0.2% in September. Nondurable goods orders are down 0.2% over the year.

New orders for defense aircraft and parts led the decrease in durable goods orders, plummeting 32.4%, following a 34.2% surge in September. In October, the largest monthly increases occurred in photographic equipment and ships and boats, which both increased 9.9%, after falling 10.3% and 8.8%, respectively, the prior month. The largest over-the-year changes occurred in nondefense aircraft and parts (up 104.8%) and mining, oil field and gas field machinery (down 6.9%).

Factory shipments ticked up 0.1% in October, after edging down 0.1% in September. Shipments over the year rose 1.5%. Shipments excluding transportation declined 0.2% in October, following a 0.1% gain the previous month. Shipments for durable goods advanced 0.6% in October, following a 0.1% increase in September, and are up 3.3% year to date. Meanwhile, nondurable goods shipments stepped down 0.4% after decreasing 0.2% the previous month, and are down 0.2% year to date.

Unfilled orders for all manufacturing industries inched up 0.2%, after rising 0.8% in September. Unfilled orders over the past year jumped 8.0%. Inventories stayed the same in October, after decreasing 0.1% in September, and the inventories-to-shipments ratio stayed the same in October at 1.56. The unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio for durable goods decreased to 6.92 from 6.98 in September.