News

New orders for manufactured goods decreased 0.2% in August, after rising 4.9% in July. Excluding transportation, new orders declined 0.1%. Orders for durable goods were flat after rising 9.8% in July. Year to date, durable goods orders are down 1.3%. Nondurable goods fell 0.5% in August after rising 0.6% in July. Nonetheless, nondurable goods orders are up 1.8% year to date.

Although the transportation equipment sector overall recorded a slight decline, ships and boats had the biggest rise in orders of any industry in August, increasing 11.3%. After rising 18.3% in July, mining, oil field and gas field machinery orders fell 17.2% in August, followed by nondefense aircraft and parts (-7.5%). Nondefense aircraft and parts are down 31% year to date.

Factory shipments decreased 0.5% in August, after two months of growth. Shipments excluding transportation declined 0.2%, following a 0.3% increase in July. Shipments for durable goods were down 0.6% in August but are up 1.7% year to date. Meanwhile, nondurable goods shipments fell 0.5% in August but are up 1.8% year to date.

Unfilled orders rose 0.4% in August following a 0.2% increase in July. The unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio for durable goods increased to 6.87 from 6.76 in July. Inventories saw a slight gain of 0.1%, with the inventories-to-shipments ratio edging up to 1.46 from 1.45.