Updated: 26-Apr-22 09:19 ET
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Updated: 26-Apr-22 09:19 ET |
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Highlights
- Total durable goods orders increased 0.8% month-over-month in March (Briefing.com consensus +1.1%) following an upwardly revised 1.7% decline (from -2.2%) in February.
- Excluding transportation, durable goods orders increased 1.1% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus +0.5%) following an upwardly revised 0.5% decline (from -0.6%) in February.
Key Factors
- New orders for primary metals increased 1.5% after being unchanged in February.
- New orders for fabricated metal products rose 0.8% following a 1.0% increase in February.
- New orders for machinery increased 0.7% following a 2.9% decline in February.
- New orders for transportation equipment rose 0.2% after declining 4.4% in February, paced by a 5.0% increase in new orders for motor vehicles and parts.
- Shipments of nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft, jumped 0.2% after increasing 0.2% in February and 2.2% in January. This component factors into GDP computations, so it is a positive input for Q1 GDP.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that it conveyed a nice rebound in order activity after a brief slump in February. Notably, new orders for nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft -- a proxy for business spending -- jumped 1.0% following a 0.3% decline in February.
Category |
MAR |
FEB |
JAN |
DEC |
NOV |
Total Durable Orders |
0.8% |
-1.7% |
1.5% |
1.2% |
3.2% |
Less Defense |
1.2% |
-2.1% |
1.3% |
2.7% |
2.7% |
Less Transport |
1.1% |
-0.5% |
0.8% |
1.0% |
1.1% |
Transportation |
0.2% |
-4.4% |
3.2% |
1.7% |
8.2% |
Capital Goods |
-1.1% |
-4.3% |
4.9% |
-1.0% |
6.1% |
Nondefense |
-0.5% |
-6.1% |
3.5% |
4.0% |
5.1% |
Nondefense/nonaircarft (core cap gds) |
1.0% |
-0.3% |
1.2% |
0.4% |
0.2% |
Defense Cap Goods |
-5.6% |
11.9% |
18.6% |
-34.0% |
13.2% |