Updated: 02-Apr-24 10:25 ET
| February Factory Orders |
 |
|
| Updated: 02-Apr-24 10:25 ET |
Highlights
- Factory orders increased 1.4% month-over-month in February (Briefing.com consensus 1.0%) after declining a revised 3.8% (from -3.6%) in January.
- Excluding transportation, factory orders increased 1.1% on the heels of a 0.6% decline in January.
- Shipments of manufactured goods were up 1.4% after a 0.8% decline in January.
Key Factors
- Durable goods orders were up 1.3% after dropping 6.9% in January.
- New orders for nondurable goods jumped 1.6% after sliding 0.8% in January.
- New orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft-a proxy for business spending- jumped 0.7% after falling 0.3% in January.
- The inventory-to-shipments ratio fell to 1.47 from 1.49 in January.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that there was a pickup in new orders in February for durable and nondurable goods, demonstrating that there has not been a lingering drop-off in demand.
| Category | FEB | JAN | DEC | NOV | OCT |
| Factory Orders | 1.4% | -3.8% | -0.3% | 2.6% | -3.4% |
| Less Defense | 1.8% | -4.2% | -0.2% | 3.2% | -4.0% |
| Durable Goods | 1.3% | -6.9% | -0.3% | 5.4% | -5.1% |
| Nondurable Goods | 1.6% | -0.8% | -0.3% | 0.0% | -1.8% |
| Unfilled Factory Orders | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 0.4% |
| Factory Shipments | 1.4% | -0.8% | -0.5% | 0.5% | -1.3% |
| Factory Inventories | 0.3% | -0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Inventory/Shipment Ratio | 1.47 | 1.49 | 1.48 | 1.48 | 1.48 |
|
|