Durable Goods Orders Decreased Slightly Less than Expected in April

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.

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).