Updated: 03-Jun-25 10:35 ET
| April Factory Orders |
 |
|
| Updated: 03-Jun-25 10:35 ET |
Highlights
- Factory orders declined 3.7% month-over-month in April (Briefing.com consensus -3.1%) following a downwardly revised 3.4% increase (from 4.3%) in March.
- Excluding transportation, factory orders declined 0.5% for the second straight month.
- Shipments of manufactured goods dropped 0.3% on the heels of a 0.2% decline in March.
Key Factors
- Durable goods orders were down 6.3% after increasing 7.6% in March, led by a 17.1% decline in transportation equipment orders.
- New orders for nondurable goods fell 0.9% after declining 0.7% in March.
- New orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft-a proxy for business spending- decreased 1.5% after increasing 0.3% in March.
- The inventory-to-shipments ratio increased to 1.58 from 1.57 in March.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that April activity was devoid of strength, with declines in durable goods orders, nondurable goods orders, and business spending.
| Category | APR | MAR | FEB | JAN | DEC |
| Factory Orders | -3.7% | 3.4% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.4% |
| Less Defense | -4.2% | 3.9% | 0.4% | 0.7% | 0.2% |
| Durable Goods | -6.3% | 7.6% | 1.0% | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| Nondurable Goods | -0.9% | -0.7% | 0.1% | 0.4% | 0.0% |
| Unfilled Factory Orders | 0.0% | 1.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Factory Shipments | -0.3% | -0.2% | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| Factory Inventories | -0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Inventory/Shipment Ratio | 1.58 | 1.57 | 1.57 | 1.57 | 1.58 |
|
|