Updated: 04-Jun-18 10:25 ET
| April Factory Orders |
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| Updated: 04-Jun-18 10:25 ET |
Highlights
- Factory orders decreased 0.8% in April (Briefing.com consensus -0.5%) following an upwardly revised 1.7% increase (from +1.6%) in March.
- Excluding transportation, orders rose 0.4% after increasing an upwardly revised 0.5% (from 0.3%) in March.
Key Factors
- Durable goods orders decreased 1.6% in April after increasing 2.7% in March. Nondurable goods orders were up 0.1% following a 0.6% increase in March.
- Shipments of nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft -- the component that factors into GDP forecasts -- jumped 0.9% after dropping 0.7% in March. This component was reported to be up 0.8% in the Advance Report for Durable Goods Orders.
- Total shipments for all manufacturing industries were flat in April after increasing 0.7% in March
- The inventory-to-shipments ratio remained at 1.35
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that shipments of nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft were slightly higher than what was seen in the Advance Durable Goods Orders Report for April, so this will provide an added dose of support for Q2 GDP growth forecasts.
| Category | APR | MAR | FEB | JAN | DEC |
| Factory Orders | -0.8% | 1.7% | 2.0% | -1.6% | 1.8% |
| Less Defense | -0.9% | 2.4% | 0.9% | -1.1% | 1.9% |
| Durable Goods | -1.6% | 2.7% | 4.5% | -4.2% | 3.2% |
| Nondurable Goods | 0.1% | 0.6% | -0.3% | 1.0% | 0.4% |
| Unfilled Factory Orders | 0.5% | 0.8% | -0.2% | -0.3% | 0.6% |
| Factory Shipments | 0.0% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0.7% | 0.4% |
| Factory Inventories | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Inventory/Shipment Ratio | 1.35 | 1.35 | 1.36 | 1.35 | 1.36 |
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