Durable Goods Orders Fall As Expected In August

Transportation equipment, specifically aircraft orders, are once again skewing durable goods orders which fell 2.0 percent in August as expected. Excluding transportation, durable goods were unchanged which is slightly lower than expected. Weakness here in part reflects a pause for capital goods as non-defense ex-auto orders slipped 0.2 percent following two prior months of very solid growth. This report falls in line with last week's industrial production data where manufacturing basically held flat in August. Weakness in exports is the balancing factor tipping the factory sector away from growth.

Recent History Of This Indicator: Durable goods orders are expected to fall a sharp 2.0 percent in August due to weakness in aircraft. Excluding transportation, orders are expected to rise 0.3 percent. The auto sector gave a boost to factory data during June and especially July but, in a negative signal for this report, the manufacturing component of the August industrial production report was pulled lower by autos. Still, July was a good month for durable goods orders and general momentum is expected to extend into August.