WASHINGTON (Reuters) – New orders for U.S. goods fell in January as commercial airline bookings plummeted, but gains in machinery and other goods suggest manufacturing may be regaining its footing. suggesting.
A report from the Department of Commerce on Monday showed shipments of manufactured goods had rebounded after two straight months of decline, but inventories were unchanged.
This followed last week’s survey by the Institute for Supply Management which showed manufacturing, which accounts for 11.3% of the economy, contracted for the fourth straight month in February, but the pace of the decline has slowed and new orders have fallen below the previous level. increased more. The lowest level in two and a half years.
Factory orders fell 1.6% after rising 1.7% in December. Economists polled by Reuters had expected orders to fall 1.8%. Orders in January increased 4.3% year-on-year.
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But with the Federal Reserve expected to continue raising rates through the summer, a quick recovery in manufacturing is unlikely. The past strength of the dollar against the currencies of the United States’ major trading partners and softening global demand have also weakened manufacturing.
The decline in factory orders in January largely reflected a 13.3% decline in transport equipment following a 15.8% increase in December. Transport equipment orders were impacted by a 54.5% decline in commercial aircraft orders. Automotive orders he increased by 1.3%.
Machinery orders increased 1.6%, while computer and electronics orders increased 0.6%. Orders for electrical equipment, appliances and parts jumped 1.3%. Orders for primary metals, processed metal products, and defense aircraft also increased.
Shipments of manufactured goods rose 0.7%, the biggest gain since August after falling 0.6% in December. Factory product inventories were unchanged after rising 0.4% in December. While this bodes well for future production, it could impact GDP this quarter.
Factory order backlogs remained flat, with a surge in work-in-progress for PCs and related products offset by a decline in consumer goods.
The Department of Commerce also reported that orders for non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft, recovered 0.8% in January, as reported last month.
Shipments of these so-called core capital goods, which are used to calculate business equipment expenditures in the Gross Domestic Product report, increased by 1.1% as previously reported.
Reported by Lucia Mutikani.Editing: Chiju Nomiyama, Sharon Singleton
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