U.S. Durables Dragged Down By Defense, Electronics Continues To Recover

The overall outlook for manufacturing remains sluggish, though electronics continue to recover and outperform the rest of the manufacturing sector (see data below).   The headline number was dragged down by orders for defense aircraft and parts, which plummeted 72.7% in November.   Stripping out defense goods, shipments were up 0.1% and orders up 0.8%.

New Orders
New orders for manufactured durable goods in November decreased $5.0 billion or 2.0 percent to $242.6 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This decrease, down two of the last three months, followed a 0.2 percent October increase. Excluding transportation, new orders were virtually unchanged.

Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.8 percent. Transportation equipment, also down two of the last three months, led the decrease, $4.9 billion or 5.9 percent to $79.2 billion.

Shipments
Shipments of manufactured durable goods in November, up following four consecutive monthly decreases, increased $0.2 billion or 0.1 percent to $251.6 billion. This followed a 0.1 percent October decrease. Fabricated metal products, up three of the last four months, drove the increase, $0.3 billion or 1.0 percent to $34.1 billion.  – Census Bureau