Durable Goods Orders for May increased 15.8% (Briefing.com consensus 11.6%) on the heels of a downwardly revised 18.1% decline (from -17.7%) in April.
Excluding transportation, orders rose 4.0% (Briefing.com consensus 2.1%) following a downwardly revised 8.2% decline (from -7.7%) in April.
New orders rebounded across every durables category in May, the biggest of which was an 80.7% increase in transportation equipment orders.
Machinery orders were up 1.1% after an 8.0% decline in April.
Orders for primary metals jumped 9.1% after declining 14.3% in April.
Nondefense capital goods orders, excluding aircraft -- a proxy for business spending -- increased 2.3% on the heels of a 6.5% decline in April. Shipments of these goods rose 1.8% following a 6.2% decline in April.
The key takeaway from the report is that order activity clearly rebounded in May, yet new order levels year to date are 13.6% lower than the same period a year ago on a not seasonally adjusted basis.| MAY | APR | MAR | FEB | JAN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Durable Orders | 15.8% | -18.1% | -16.7% | 2.0% | -0.2% |
| Less Defense | 15.5% | -17.1% | -17.5% | 0.1% | 3.5% |
| Less Transport | 4.0% | -8.2% | -1.8% | -0.3% | 0.5% |
| Transportation | 80.7% | -48.6% | -43.2% | 6.4% | -1.5% |
| Capital Goods | 25.8% | -2.4% | -29.8% | 7.4% | 0.1% |
| Nondefense | 27.1% | 7.1% | -35.4% | 1.5% | 11.2% |
| Nondefense/nonaircarft (core cap gds) | 2.3% | -6.5% | -1.3% | -0.6% | 0.9% |
| Defense Cap Goods | 19.9% | -30.0% | -5.7% | 43.4% | -37.5% |
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