U.S. Durable Goods Down 1.8% as Businesses Remain Cautious

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

By Jeffrey Sparshott
@jeffsparshott
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Updated June 23, 2015 9:15 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON—Demand for big-ticket manufactured goods fell for the third time in four months in May, suggesting that business investment remains subdued.

New orders for durable goods—products such as computers and trucks designed to last at least three years—decreased a seasonally adjusted 1.8% in May from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. April durable goods orders fell a revised 1.5%, compared with the previously reported 1% decrease.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected overall orders to fall 1% in May. ... Details of the report were mixed, with underlying figures showing gains in some key categories but nothing in the way of a breakout.

“The bottom line is that equipment investment is one of the few expenditure components that isn’t showing signs of a marked rebound in the second quarter,” Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients. ... Through the first five months of the year, overall orders are down 2.2% compared to the same period in 2014.

Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-durable-orders-down-1-8-in-may-1435062694

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From the Census Bureau:

Economic Indicators

Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders May 2015

U.S. Census Bureau News
U.S. Department of Commerce * Washington, D.C. 20233

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2015, AT 8:30 A.M. EDT
Adriana Stoica
Economic Indicators Division

[phone]
M3-1 (15)-05
CB15-109

Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders May 2015

New Orders
New orders for manufactured durable goods in May decreased $4.1 billion or 1.8 percent to $228.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This decrease, down three of the last four months, followed a 1.5 percent April decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.5 percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 2.1 percent.

Shipments
Shipments of manufactured durable goods in May, down four of the last five months, decreased $0.2 billion or 0.1 percent to $239.9 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent April decrease.
....

Unfilled Orders
Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in May, down five of the last six months, decreased $5.7 billion or 0.5 percent to $1,195.5 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent April decrease.
....

Inventories
Inventories of manufactured durable goods in May, down following twenty-three consecutive monthly increases, decreased $0.8 billion or 0.2 percent to $400.6 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent April increase.
....

Capital Goods
Nondefense new orders for capital goods in May decreased $5.2 billion or 6.6 percent to $74.3 billion. Shipments decreased $0.5 billion or 0.6 percent to $79.3 billion. Unfilled orders decreased $5.0 billion or 0.7 percent to $757.1 billion. Inventories decreased $1.1 billion or 0.6 percent to $176.2 billion.

[Kip Humphrey]

1. The Great Unrecovery continues.