Shipments in manufactured durable goods were disappointing in August, with a 1.4 percent drop from July, following a two-month uptick in shipments
, according to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau released Friday. Durable goods shipments fell $2.4 billion to $171.3 billion, compared to a 2.3 percent increase in July.

(Durable goods include large items such as refrigerators and air conditioners; truckers haul both the finished products and components that go into the making of them.)

New orders also saw a decline in August, losing $4.4 billion, or 2.6 percent, to $164.1 billion. This is the second of the last three months the figure has been down.

Unfilled orders were down for the eleventh straight month, slipping 0.4 percent to $736.8 billion. This was the longest streak of consecutive monthly decreases since 1992 and followed a 0.1 percent July decrease.

After seven consecutive months of declines, August marked the eighth month of decreases for inventories of durable goods. Inventories fell $4.5 billion or 1.4 percent to $308.4 billion, following a 1.2 percent July decrease.

To view the full census report, click here.

0 Comments