In March 2025, new orders for U.S. manufactured goods experienced a robust increase, rising by 4.3% from the previous month to reach $618.8 billion. This marked an acceleration from the adjusted 0.5% growth observed in the prior month and was closely aligned with market predictions of a 4.5% rise. The increase was the most significant since July of the preceding year, attributed to clients hastening their orders in anticipation of substantial tariffs imposed by the White House starting in April, which consequently led factories to increase prices.
The uptick was most notable in the durable goods sector, which saw a 9.2% surge to $315.7 billion, primarily driven by transportation equipment soaring by 27.1% to $124.6 billion. In contrast, there were more modest gains in primary metals (up 1.1% to $27.9 billion), fabricated metal products (an increase of 0.1% to $37 billion), and machinery (also up 0.1% to $37.8 billion). Conversely, the orders for computers and electronic products declined by 1.3%, dropping to $25.4 billion.
