In March 2025, the United States experienced a significant 9.2% month-over-month increase in new orders for manufactured durable goods, reaching $315.7 billion. This represents the third consecutive monthly rise and far surpasses market predictions of a 2% increase. The surge was primarily fueled by a considerable rise in commercial aircraft orders. Specifically, transportation equipment orders soared by 27%, driven predominantly by nondefense aircraft and parts, which skyrocketed by 139%, and motor vehicles and parts, which rose by 2.3%. When transportation is excluded, new orders remained relatively stable.
Additional growth was observed in capital goods orders, which increased by 24.3%, led by nondefense capital goods at 29.4%, primary metals at 0.7%, fabricated metal products at 0.2%, and machinery at 0.1%. Conversely, orders for computers and electronics declined by 1.2%. Meanwhile, a key indicator of business investment, non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, saw a modest 0.1% increase in March. This marks a recovery from a 0.3% decline in February, though it fell short of the anticipated 0.2% growth.
