Factory Orders Tick Higher as Expected

New orders for manufactured good in the US inched higher by 0.1% from the previous month to $620.1 billion in January of 2026, trimming the revised 0.4% decline in the previous month and in line with the market consensus. The uptick was carried by a 0.3% increase to $298.7 billion in nondurable goods industries. Meanwhile, durable goods orders were loosely unchanged at $321.3 billion in the period as an increase in computers and electronic products (1.3% to $28.3 billion), machinery (0.2% to $40.3 billion), fabricated metal products (0.5% to $42.8 billion), and primary metals (0.7% to 27.9 billion) offset a 0.8% decline in orders of transportation equipment (-0.8% to $113.5 billion) amid a 23.8% plunge in defense aircraft to $5.3 billion. Excluding transportation, orders were 0.4% higher, a third month of increase.

New orders for manufactured goods in the US fell by 0.7% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted $617.5 billion in December of 2025, trimming the six-month high growth of $621.9 billion in the previous month, and loosely in line with market expectations that it would contract 0.5%. Orders of durable goods fell by 1.4% to $319.9 billion, amid lower orders for transportation equipment (-5.4% to $113.9 billion), solely due to a drop in nondefense aircraft and parts (-24.8% to $26.7 billion). In turn, higher orders were recorded for computers and electronic products (3.1% to $27.9 billion), machinery (0.5% to $40.4 billion), fabricated metal products (0.9% to $42.6 billion), and primary metals (2.1% to $27.6 billion). Meanwhile, orders for nondurable goods were loosely unchanged for a second month at $297.6 billion.

New orders for US manufactured goods rose by 2.7% from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted $621.6 billion in November of 2025, rebounding from the revised 1.2% drop in the previous month, the sharpest increase in six months. Orders for durable goods rose by 5.3% to $323.8 billion, supported by a surge in transportation equipment (14.7% to $119.4 billion) due to a near doubling in orders of nondefense aircraft and parts ($35.4 billion). Durable goods orders also rose for electrical equipment (1% to $18.2 billion), fabricated metal products (0.9% to $42.4 billion) and machinery 0.3% to $40 billion. In turn, orders in nondurable goods industries were unchanged from the previous month to $297.9 billion.