WASHINGTON — The value of new factory orders fell 2.1% in October, slightly lower than the 2.0% decrease expected by analysts in an MNI survey, data released by the Commerce Department Thursday morning showed.
Durable goods orders were revised up slightly to a 4.3% fall from the 4.4% decrease reported in the advance estimate. Nondurable goods orders rose 0.3% on gains in petroleum and coal, food products, and textile products. 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% gain in September, continuing the string of gains that stretches back virtually uninterrupted for most of the past two years. Durables orders excluding transportation were revised up to a 0.2% gain from the 0.1% increase in the advance report.
In addition, unfilled orders were -0.1% in October, showing marginally lower demand for manufactured goods.
Transportation orders were down 12.0% in October, revised up slightly from the advance estimate. The unlisted transportation components were down 1.6% in the month, based on an MNI calculation.
Nondefense capital goods new orders fell by 4.1%, however they were flat when excluding aircraft.
Factory inventories rose by 0.1% in October. In addition to this, the Commerce Department's advance report on inventories showed a 0.7% gain for wholesale inventories and a 0.9% rise in retail inventories.
While these data are eligible for revision, the levels as they stand now, combined with the 0.1% increase in factory inventories, would result in a 0.6% gain in October business inventories when that report is released on December 14, an MNI calculation showed. The revised wholesale data for October will be released on December 7 and could alter this projection.
Overall factory shipments were down 0.1% in the month on a 0.5% decrease for durable goods shipments, offset by a 0.3% rise in nondurable shipments. Nondefense capital goods shipments fell by 2.5%, but were up 0.3% after excluding the civilian aircraft component.
Given the mix of inventories and shipments reported Friday, the inventory-to-shipments ratio was unchanged at 1.34 from September.
