Updated: 02-May-25 10:16 ET
| March Factory Orders |
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| Updated: 02-May-25 10:16 ET |
Highlights
- Factory orders surged 4.3% month-over-month in March (Briefing.com consensus 4.1%), bolstered by aircraft orders, after increasing a downwardly revised 0.5% (from 0.6%) in February.
- Excluding transportation, factory orders declined 0.2% after increasing 0.3% in February.
- Shipments of manufactured goods slipped 0.1% after increasing 0.7% in February.
Key Factors
- Durable goods orders rose 9.2% after increasing 0.8% in February, led by a 139% increase in nondefense aircraft and parts orders.
- New orders for nondurable goods dropped 0.3% after increasing 0.1% in February.
- New orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft-a proxy for business spending- increased 0.1% after declining 0.4% in February.
- The inventory-to-shipments ratio held steady at 1.45.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that the headline number masks a languid situation for factory orders in March, which were negative when the transportation component is removed.
| Category | MAR | FEB | JAN | DEC | NOV |
| Factory Orders | 4.3% | 0.5% | 1.8% | -0.6% | -0.8% |
| Less Defense | 4.8% | 0.4% | 1.9% | -0.6% | -0.4% |
| Durable Goods | 9.2% | 0.8% | 3.4% | -1.8% | -2.0% |
| Nondurable Goods | -0.3% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.4% |
| Unfilled Factory Orders | 2.0% | 0.1% | 0.2% | -0.3% | 0.2% |
| Factory Shipments | -0.1% | 0.7% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.1% |
| Factory Inventories | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.4% |
| Inventory/Shipment Ratio | 1.45 | 1.45 | 1.46 | 1.46 | 1.47 |
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