Updated: 28-Jan-25 09:15 ET
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Updated: 28-Jan-25 09:15 ET |
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Highlights
- New orders for durable goods declined 2.2% month-over-month in December (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%) following a downwardly revised 2.0% month-over-month decline (from -1.1%) in November.
- Excluding transportation, durable goods orders increased 0.3% (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%) following a downwardly revised 0.2% decline (from -0.1%) in November.
Key Factors
- New orders for primary metals declined 0.6% following a 0.4% increase in November.
- New orders for fabricated metal products rose 1.2% following a 1.6% decline in November.
- New orders for machinery jumped 0.2% after being unchanged in November.
- New orders for computers and electronic products increased 0.1% following a 0.1% decline in November.
- New orders for transportation equipment dropped 7.4% following a 5.4% decline in November, paced by a 45.7% decline in new orders for nondefense aircraft and parts.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report, though, is the understanding that new orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft -- a proxy for business spending -- were up 0.5% on the heels of a 0.9% increase in November, thereby softening the disappointment of the headline number.
Category |
DEC |
NOV |
OCT |
SEP |
AUG |
Total Durable Orders |
-2.2% |
-2.0% |
0.7% |
-0.4% |
-0.9% |
Less Defense |
-2.4% |
-1.3% |
0.9% |
-0.9% |
-1.3% |
Less Transport |
0.3% |
-0.2% |
0.2% |
0.4% |
0.6% |
Transportation |
-7.4% |
-5.4% |
1.8% |
-1.9% |
-3.4% |
Capital Goods |
-7.1% |
-4.8% |
2.0% |
-1.4% |
-2.6% |
Nondefense |
-7.8% |
-3.2% |
3.1% |
-3.5% |
-4.4% |
Nondefense/nonaircarft (core cap gds) |
0.5% |
0.9% |
-0.1% |
0.3% |
0.2% |
Defense Cap Goods |
-3.3% |
-12.8% |
-2.9% |
9.8% |
8.4% |