The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Monday that the durable goods
orders plunged 4.5 percent m-o-m in January 2023, following a downwardly
revised 5.1 percent m-o-m jump (from +5.6 percent m-o-m) in December 2022. That
marked the steepest monthly decline in durable goods orders since April 2021
(-18.1 percent).
Economists had predicted a 4.0 percent m-o-m drop.
According to the report, the January tumble was primarily due to a 13.3
percent m-o-m plummet in orders for transportation equipment.
Meanwhile, orders for durable goods excluding transportation rose 0.7
percent m-o-m in January, following a downwardly revised 0.4 percent m-o-m fall
(from -0.1 percent m-o-m) in the previous month, exceeding economists’ estimate
of a flat m-o-m performance.
Elsewhere, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a
closely watched proxy for business spending plans, went up 0.8 percent m-o-m
last month after a downwardly revised 0.3 percent m-o-m fall (from -0.2 percent
m-o-m) in December. Economists had called for a 0.1 percent m-o-m uptick in
core capital goods orders in January.
On a y-o-y basis, durable goods orders increased 3.0 percent, while
orders, excluding transportation, rose 2.6 percent.