Updated: 03-Jul-24 10:32 ET
| May Factory Orders |
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| Updated: 03-Jul-24 10:32 ET |
Highlights
- Factory orders declined 0.5% month-over-month in May (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) following a downwardly revised 0.4% increase (from 0.7%) in April.
- Excluding transportation, factory orders declined 0.7% on the heels of a 0.5% increase in April.
- Shipments of manufactured goods also fell 0.7% after increasing 0.84% in April.
Key Factors
- Durable goods orders increased 0.1% following a 0.2% increase in April.
- New orders for nondurable goods declined 1.0% after increasing 0.5% in April.
- New orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft-a proxy for business spending- dropped 0.6% after increasing 0.2% in April.
- The inventory-to-shipments ratio increased to 1.47 from 1.46.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that business spending dropped off in May, which is consistent with a slowdown in manufacturing activity that was seen in the advance report for durable goods.
| Category | MAY | APR | MAR | FEB | JAN |
| Factory Orders | -0.5% | 0.4% | 0.7% | 1.4% | -2.3% |
| Less Defense | -0.7% | 0.0% | 0.9% | 1.6% | -2.8% |
| Durable Goods | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.8% | 1.2% | -3.8% |
| Nondurable Goods | -1.0% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 1.6% | -0.9% |
| Unfilled Factory Orders | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Factory Shipments | -0.7% | 0.8% | 0.4% | 1.3% | -0.7% |
| Factory Inventories | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.3% | -0.1% |
| Inventory/Shipment Ratio | 1.47 | 1.46 | 1.47 | 1.47 | 1.49 |
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