Durable goods orders in December increased 5.6% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus 2.9%) following an upwardly revised 1.7% decline (from -2.1%) in November, bolstered by a 115.5% increase in nondefense aircraft and parts orders.
Excluding transportation, durable goods orders were down 0.1% month-over-month (Briefing.com consensus -0.2%) following a downwardly revised 0.1% increase (from +0.2%) in November.
New orders for primary metals decreased 0.3% month-over-month after declining 0.2% in November.
New orders for machinery were down 1.7% month-over-month following a 0.5% decline in November.
New orders for fabricated metal products jumped 0.3% month-over-month after declining 0.1% in November.
New orders for computers and electronic products declined 0.6% month-over-month after increasing 0.5% in November.
The key takeaway from the report is that overall manufacturing activity was actually quite subdued in December, evidenced by the 0.2% decline in nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, which is a proxy for business spending.| DEC | NOV | OCT | SEP | AUG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Durable Orders | 5.6% | -1.7% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Less Defense | 6.3% | -2.3% | 0.4% | 1.3% | -0.3% |
| Less Transport | -0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | -0.9% | 0.1% |
| Transportation | 16.7% | -5.0% | 1.9% | 2.3% | 0.5% |
| Capital Goods | 15.8% | -4.5% | 1.4% | 0.5% | 0.3% |
| Nondefense | 19.2% | -6.5% | 1.0% | 3.7% | -1.1% |
| Nondefense/nonaircarft (core cap gds) | -0.2% | 0.0% | 0.3% | -0.7% | 0.9% |
| Defense Cap Goods | -2.8% | 8.2% | 4.2% | -16.6% | 8.4% |
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