Posted June 24, 2010
Durable goods orders decreased in May
New orders for manufactured durable goods in May decreased $2.2 billion or 1.1 percent to $192.0 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today.
This decrease followed five consecutive monthly increases including a 3.0 percent April increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.9 percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 1.1 percent.
Transportation equipment, down three of the last four months, had the largest decrease, $3.5 billion or 6.9 percent to $46.9 billion. This was led by nondefense aircraft and parts which decreased $3.0 billion.
Shipments decreased $0.8 billion or 0.4 percent to $196.0 billion.This followed a 1.8 percent April increase.
"The mixed report on durable goods demand in May indicates that business capital spending, at least for the moment, is holding up in spite of mounting evidence that the tenuous economic recovery is slowing," said Cliff Waldman, economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI. "While total new orders declined by 1.1 percent, this came after five consecutive monthly increases and, excluding transportation orders, were up by 0.9 percent. More importantly, new orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for business equipment spending, were up by 2.1 percent, nearly rebounding from a 2.7 percent decline the month before and up by more than 15 percent from year-ago levels."
