U.S. Durable Goods Orders Pull Back More Than Expected In November

(RTTNews) - New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods slumped by much more than expected in the month of November, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Monday.

The report said durable goods orders tumbled by 1.1 percent in November after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.8 percent in October.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to fall by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.3 percent increase that had been reported for the previous month.

The bigger than expected decrease by durable goods orders came amid a sharp pullback by orders for transportation equipment, which plunged by 2.9 percent in November after jumping by 1.8 percent in October.

Excluding the steep drop by orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders edged down by 0.1 percent in November after inching up by 0.2 percent in October. Ex-transportation orders were expected to rise by 0.3 percent.

Decreases by orders for fabricated metal products and computers and electronic products offset increases by orders for machinery, primary metals and electrical equipment, appliances and components.

Meanwhile, the report said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key indicator of business spending, climbed by 0.7 percent in November after dipping by 0.1 percent in October.

Shipments in the same category, which is the source data for equipment investment in GDP, increased by 0.5 percent in November after rising by 0.4 percent in October.

"The rebound in core capital goods orders and shipments could reflect some relief from policy uncertainty now that the election is behind us," said Michael Pearce, Deputy Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

He added, "We expect equipment spending growth to be above 4% next year, in part thanks to spillovers from the boom in new factory construction and the build out of AI."