Posted May 26, 2010
Durable goods orders increase
New orders for manufactured durable goods increased $5.6 billion or 2.9 percent to $193.9 billion in April, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today.
This was the fourth increase in the last five months and followed a slight March decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 1.0 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 3.4 percent.
Shipments increased 1.4 percent to $196.0 billion. This followed a 2.1 percent March increase.
Cliff Waldman, economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, said the report illustrates the "tenuous nature of the U.S. economic and manufacturing recovery."
"Though new orders rose by nearly 3 percent, after essentially flat growth in the previous two months, orders fell by 1 percent after stripping out the volatile transportation component, which was supported by a nearly 230 percent increase in demand for nondefense aircraft and parts. Activity appears to have slowed in key parts of the manufacturing supply chain as evidenced by a nearly 6 percent drop in machinery demand and a 2 percent decline in orders for primary metals, albeit following strong activity in previous months in both industry sectors," he said.
"The uneven revival in capital spending, a critical issue for U.S. factory sector prospects, has been largely generated by a surge in orders for computers and information processing equipment at growth rates which are unsustainable," he added. "Looking ahead, the risks to the uneven global economic recovery brought about by the turmoil in the Eurozone is not good news as the U.S. manufacturing recovery struggles to transition from one that is powered by inventory restocking and fiscal stimulus to growth that is supported by sustainable domestic and global economic activity."
