In September 2025, new orders for U.S. manufactured goods saw a modest increase of 0.2% compared to the previous month. This growth followed a revised 1.3% rise in August, and it was below the anticipated 0.5% increase. The transportation equipment sector experienced a second month of gains with a 0.4% rise, though it was lower than August's 8.0% increase. This sector's growth was primarily driven by a recovery in vehicle orders, which rose 0.2% following a 0.3% decrease, and another substantial upswing in defense aircraft orders, which surged 30.9% compared to the previous month's 48.3% jump. An uptick in demand was also observed in critical areas such as electrical equipment, appliances, and components, which improved by 1.7% from 0.5%; primary metals, which increased by 1.5% from 0.5%; computers and electronic products, rising 0.5% after a 1.1% decrease; and fabricated metal products, which held steady at 0.5%. Meanwhile, orders for machinery remained unchanged following a 2.1% rise in August. When transportation is excluded, new factory orders also grew by 0.2%, recovering from a 0.1% decline, while orders excluding defense remained stable after a 0.7% increase the prior month.