1. New orders for manufactured durable goods in the U.S. fell 1.8% in May, to $228.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. Analysts had expected orders to fall 0.5% last month.
2. Durable goods orders fell 1.5% in April and have been down three of the last four months. MAPI economist Cliff Waldman said recent mixed economic data "suggest moderate, hesitant growth" for the U.S.
3. Transportation equipment led the decrease in May, down 6.4% to $71.7 billion. The May drop “mainly reflected reduced aircraft sales for the month,” noted NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray.
4. Not counting transportation, new orders increased 0.5% to $157.2 billion. New orders were up for primary metals, fabricated metal products, machinery and computers and electronic equipment.
5. Shipments of manufactured durables in May decreased 0.1% to $239.9 billion. Shipments also fell 0.2% in April.
6. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but capital goods shipments and orders also fell in May. Capital goods shipments were off 0.5% to $88.7 billion, while new orders slipped 5.2% to $83.0 billion.
7. Silver lining time – Excluding aircraft, capital goods shipments were up a modest 0.3% to $69.4 billion and new orders were up 0.4% to $68.5 billion.
8. After an increase of 0.2% in April, the 23rd month in a row, inventories of manufactured durable goods decreased 0.2% to $400.6 billion.
9. Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods were down $5.7 billion, or 0.5% to $1,195.5 billion.
10. Compared to May 2014, durable goods shipments were up 2.8% and new orders were off 2.2%.
