A modest February increased followed a January that had the sharpest one-month decline since April 2020.
New orders for U.S.-made durable goods — products meant to last three years or more — increased 1.4% month-to-month in February to $277.9 billion, representing a considerable rebound from January in what has been a volatile recent demand cycle.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a rise of 1.1%.
It followed a 6.9% decline in January, which was the sharpest one-month decline since April 2020’s 19.3% drop amid COVID-19 shutdowns. The figure from the U.S. Census Bureau’s monthly advance report was revised from an advance mark of -6.1%.
Orders fell 0.3% in December and rose 5.4% in November.
Excluding transportation, February new orders increased 0.5%. Excluding defense, new orders increased 2.2%. Transportation equipment led February’s increase, up 3.3% to $90.4 billion.
Year-over-year, February U.S. durable goods orders increased 1.8%.
Shipments of manufactured durable goods — up following two straight monthly decreases — increased 1.2% in February to $282.7 billion, following January’s 0.8% decrease. Transportation equipment led the February increase, up 4.0% to $89.8 billion.
Here’s how monthly new orders and shipments of different durable goods product categories fared in February, seasonally-adjusted, according to Census Bureau data:
Primary Metals
- Shipments: +0.9%
- New Orders: +0.8%
Fabricated Metal Products
- Shipments: +0.5%
- New Orders: +0.8%
Machinery
- Shipments: -0.4%
- New Orders: +1.9%
Computers and Electronic Products
- Shipments: +0.2%
- New Orders: -1.4%
Electrical Equipment, Appliances and Components
- Shipments: -1.7%
- New Orders: -1.5%
Transportation Equipment
- Shipments: +4.0%
- New Orders: +3.3%
All Other Durable Goods
- Shipments: 0.0%
- New Orders: +0.3%
Capital Goods
- Shipments: +2.5%
- New Orders: +1.9%
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Mike Hockett
Mike Hockett is MDM’s executive editor, having joined the publication in March 2022. He oversees MDM’s editorial content and direction, coordinates with contributing authors, conducts interviews with executives in the wholesale distribution space and serves as the editorial face of MDM at industry events. He has extensively covered the distribution and manufacturing sectors since 2014. Hockett works from his home in Madison, WI. He can be contacted at mike@mdm.com.
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