New orders for manufactured durable goods decreased in August according to a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Report on Durable Goods Manufacturer’s Shipments, Inventories and Orders (M3) for August noted a $1.0 billion decrease, or 0.5 percent to $209.7 billion. This is the second consecutive monthly decrease.
Shipments of manufactured durable goods increased $4.0 billion, or 1.9 percent to $214.2 billion. Transportation equipment increased $3.1 billion or 5.9 percent to $56.9 billion.
Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods increased $2.4 billion or 0.4 percent to $631.9 billion. Transportation equipment had its largest increase to $1.9 billion or 0.6 percent to $331.2 billion.
Inventories of manufactured durable goods increased $0.7 billion or 0.2 percent to $287.1 billion.
Non-defense new orders for capital goods dropped $2.5 billion, or 3.5 percent to $68.7 billion. Defense new orders increased $0.5 billion or 6.1 percent to $9.5 billion.
The M3 report is compiled from results of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufacturer’s Shipments, Inventories and Orders survey, which includes approximately 4,200 reporting units. The panel is comprised of companies with $500 million or more in shipments, as well as a limited number of smaller companies. This collection of
companies provides an indication of the national activity within the manufacturing sector.