Durable Goods Orders – November 2008

Durable Goods At a Glance

• New Orders: $186.9 billion
• New Orders Change: Down 1%
• Shipments Change: $195.9 billion
• Unfilled Orders Change: Down 2.6%
• Inventory Change: Up 0.5%
• Nondefense Capital Goods Change: Down 0.8%

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ADVANCE REPORT ON MANUFACTURERS’ SHIPMENTS, INVENTORIES, AND ORDERS

New Orders
New orders for manufactured durable goods in November decreased $1.8 billion or 1.0 percent to $186.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This was the fourth consecutive monthly decrease and followed an 8.4 percent October decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.2 percent. Excluding defense, new orders decreased 0.9 percent.
Shipments
Shipments of manufactured durable goods in November, down four consecutive months, decreased $5.3 billion or 2.6 percent to $195.9 billion. This followed a 3.4 percent October decrease.
Unfilled Orders
Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in November, down two consecutive months, decreased $5.1 billion or 0.6 percent to $815.6 billion. This followed a 0.9 percent October decrease.
Inventories
Inventories of manufactured durable goods in November, up sixteen of the last seventeen months, increased $1.6 billion or 0.5 percent to $342.9 billion. This was at the highest level since the series was first stated on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.4 percent October increase.
Capital Goods Industries
Nondefense
Nondefense new orders for capital goods in November decreased $0.5 billion or 0.8 percent to $63.0 billion.
Defense
Defense new orders for capital goods in November increased $0.6 billion or 7.8 percent to $8.4 billion.

Source: Commerce Department, Census Bureau