The U.S.
Commerce Department announced on Tuesday that the durable goods orders tumbled 6.3
per cent m-o-m in April, following a downwardly revised 7.6 per cent m-o-m jump
(from +9.2 per cent m-o-m) in March. This marked the first monthly decline
in durable goods orders in five months and the steepest one since January 2024 (-7.8
per cent).
Economists
had anticipated a 7.8 per cent m-o-m plunge.
According to
the report, the April plummet was due to decreases in orders in 6 of 9 sectors,
led by transportation equipment (-17.1 per cent m-o-m), capital goods (-14.6 per cent m-o-m), and manufacturing (-7,9 per cent m-o-m). Meanwhile, computers and electronic products (+1.0
per cent m-o-m), machinery (+0.8 per cent
m-o-m) and fabricated metal products (+0.8 per cent m-o-m) saw increases in
orders.
Meanwhile, orders
for durable goods excluding transportation rose 0.2 per cent m-o-m in April, following a downwardly
revised 0.2 per cent
m-o-m fall (from flat m-o-m in the previous month), being better than economists’ forecast of a 0.1 per cent m-o-m slip.
Elsewhere,
orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched
proxy for business spending plans, plunged 1.3 per cent m-o-m last month after
an upwardly revised 0.3 per cent m-o-m advance (from +0.1 per cent m-o-m) in March.
Economists had expected no
change.
On a
y-o-y basis, durable goods orders surged 4.2 per cent, while orders, excluding
transportation, advanced 1.2 per cent.