Revisions for Durable Goods Orders in March Show Gains Softer than Initially Reported
New durable goods orders in the U.S. decreased $5.4 billion or 2.1% to $248.4 billion, slightly less than the consensus forecast in April.
| Prior | Prior Revised | Consensus Forecast | Forecast Range | Actual | |
| New Durable Good Orders – M/M ∆ | 2.7% | 1.7% | -2.2% | -10.0% — -0.8% | -2.1% |
| Ex-transportation – M/M ∆ | 0.4% | -0.5% | -0.1% | -0.7% — 0.3% | 0.0% |
| Core capital goods – M/M ∆ | 1.3% | 0.3% | 0.1% | -1.0% — 0.8% | -0.9% |
New orders, which are down two of the last three months, increased by 1.7% in March. Excluding transportation, new orders were essentially unchanged. Excluding defense, new orders fell 2.5%.
“Basically, orders for non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft, decreased 0.9% in April, while the previously reported increase for March was revised to +0.3% from +1.3%,” Tim Anderson, analyst at TJM Investments, said at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
“Clearly, business spending slowed in April after a smaller increase in March than was initially reported.”
Transportation equipment, which are also down two of the last three months, drove the decline, falling $5.4 billion or 5.9% to $85.4 billion.
Revisions
Revised seasonally adjusted March figures for all manufacturing industries, based on updated seasonal adjustment models, were: new orders, $503.5 billion (revised from $506.2 billion); shipments, $507.1 billion (revised from $508.5 billion); unfilled orders, $1,179.8 billion (revised from $1,181.1 billion) and total inventories, $691.3 billion (revised from $690.7 billion).
