WASHINGTON — The value of new factory orders rose 0.1% in January, below the 0.3% increase expected by analysts in an MNI survey and the Bloomberg consensus, data released by the Commerce Department Tuesday morning showed.
Durable goods orders were revised down to a 0.3% gain from the 0.4% increase in the advanced estimate. Nondurable goods orders fell 0.2% on declines in chemical products, petroleum and coal products, and textile products. Nondurable goods new orders are equivalent to nondurable goods shipments in this report.
Factory orders excluding transportation were down 0.2% in the month following a 0.5% decline in December, interrupting the string of gains that stretches back for most of the past two years. Durables orders excluding transportation were revised down to a 0.2% decline from the 0.1% decline reported in the advanced estimate. In addition, unfilled orders were +0.1% in January, showing a slight increase in demand for manufactured goods.
Transportation orders were up 1.2% in January. The unlisted transportation components were down 2.3% in the month, based on an MNI calculation. Nondefense capital goods new orders rose by 2.5%, and were still up 0.8% when excluding aircraft. Factory inventories posted a 0.5% increase in January.
Overall factory shipments were down 0.4% in the month on a 0.5% decrease for durable goods shipments. The decline was also driven by a 0.2% decline in nondurable shipments. Nondefense capital goods shipments decreased by 1.6%, but were up 0.8% after excluding the civilian aircraft component. Given the mix of inventories and shipments reported Tuesday, the inventory-to-shipments ratio rose from 1.35 in December to 1.36.
