Manufactured goods orders fell 2% in November

New orders for manufactured durable goods declined 2%, or by $5 billion, to $242.6 billion in November, from October, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Census Bureau recently released the advance report on manufacturers’ shipments, inventories and orders for November.

The new orders for manufactured durable goods have fallen in two of the past three months, following a 0.2% increase in October. Excluding transportation, new orders were flat in November. Transportation equipment orders declined 5.9%, or by $4.9 billion, to $79.2 billion in November, and the orders also have fallen in two of the past three months.

Shipments of manufactured durable goods increased 0.1%, or by $200 million, to $251.6 billion in November. This followed a 0.1% decline in October. Shipments of fabricated metal products rose 1%, or by $300 million, to $34.1 billion, and the shipments have risen in three of the past four months.

Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods declined 0.4%, or by $4.7 billion, to $1.16 trillion, in November. The increase in orders was unchanged in October. Unfilled orders of transportation equipment declined 0.6%, or by $4.6 billion, to $790.3 billion, and the unfilled orders have declined over the past four months.

Inventories of manufactured durable goods rose 0.4%, or by $1.8 billion, to $434 billion in November. The inventories have risen in 16 of the past 17 months, including a 0.4% increase in October. Transportation equipment inventories rose 1.2%, or by $1.8 billion, to $149.3 billion and have been up in 16 of the past 17 months.

With regard to capital goods, nondefense new orders for capital goods fell 1.8%, or by $1.3 billion, to $71.3 billion in November. Shipments declined 0.9%, or by $700 million, to $74.4 billion. Unfilled orders declined 0.5%, or by $3.1 billion, to $684.3 billion. Inventories rose 0.6%, or by $1.1 billion, to $196.8 billion. Defense new orders for capital goods fell 35.6%, or by $5.5 billion, to $10 billion. Shipments fell 0.5%, or by $100 million, to $12.8 billion. Unfilled orders declined 1.7%, or by $2.7 billion, to $158.2 billion. Inventories rose 0.2%, or by less than $100 million, to $24.3 billion.