The US Commerce Department revealed that new orders for US-manufactured durable goods surprisingly remained unchanged in December, due to a decrease in transportation equipment orders despite growth in other sectors. Durable goods orders saw no significant change in December, following an upward revision of 5.5% in November.
Contrary to economists' predictions of a 1.1% rise, which was based on a reported 5.4% surge in orders in the previous month, the report shows no growth in durable goods orders. This unexpected lack of growth was mainly due to a 0.9% drop in orders for transportation equipment in December, following a surge of 15.3% in November.
However, if the decrease in transportation equipment orders is excluded, December's durable goods orders showed a 0.6% increase after a 0.5% rise in November, slightly outpacing the predicted growth of 0.2%. This growth was, in part, due to an increase in orders for electrical equipment, appliances and components, and primary metals, which surged by 1.8% and 1.4% respectively.
There was also a 0.9% rise in orders for fabricated metal products, as well as a small increase in orders for computers, electronic products, and machinery. The Commerce Department noted that orders for non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft (a crucial measure of business spending), grew by 0.3% in December, following a 1.0% rise in November.
Meanwhile, shipments in the same category, which form the basis for equipment investment in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), edged upwards by 0.1% in December, reversing a 0.2% decline in November.
