WASHINGTON – The value of new factory orders fell 0.5% in February, just above the 0.6% decrease expected by analysts in an MNI survey as expected by the Bloomberg consensus, data released by the Commerce Department Monday morning showed.
Durable goods orders were unrevised from the 1.6% decline in the advanced estimate. Nondurable goods orders rose 0.6% on increases in petroleum and coal products and food products, partially offset by beverages and apparel. Nondurable goods new orders are equivalent to nondurable goods shipments in this report.
Factory orders excluding transportation were up 0.3% in the month following a 0.1% decrease in January, resuming the string of gains that stretches back for most of the past two years. Durables orders excluding transportation were revised down to a 0.1% decline from the 0.1% gain reported in the advanced estimate. In addition, unfilled orders were down 0.3% in February, showing a slight decrease in demand for manufactured goods.
Transportation orders were down 4.5% in February. The unlisted transportation components were down 0.7% in the month, based on an MNI calculation. Nondefense capital goods new orders fell by 6.2%, and were still down 0.1% when excluding aircraft. Factory inventories posted a 0.3% increase in February.
Overall factory shipments were up 0.4% in the month on a 0.2% increase for durable goods shipments. The gain was also driven by a 0.6% gain in nondurable shipments. Nondefense capital goods shipments increased by 0.6%, but were down 0.1% after excluding the civilian aircraft component. Given the mix of inventories and shipments reported Monday, the inventory-to-shipments ratio was unchanged from 1.36 in January.
