Durable Goods Orders Return to Growth

After falling for two straight months, new orders for manufactured durable goods gained 0.3 percent to $193 billion in July
, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This follows a 0.1 percent decrease in June.

Excluding transportation, new orders were down 3.8 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.3 percent.

Transportation equipment, which has been down for the last two months, saw the largest boost, rising $6.1 billion or 13.1 percent to $52.6 billion. This was due to non-defense aircraft and parts, which increased $4 billion.

Shipments of manufactured durable goods, which have increased in four of the last five months, saw a 2.2 percent boost to $200.6 billion. In June, shipments grew 0.2 percent. Similar to orders, transportation equipment had the largest increase, up 6.9 percent to $52.7 billion.

After three straight monthly increases, unfilled orders slipped $1.1 billion, or 0.1 percent, to $802.8 billion. This followed a 0.1 percent June increase.

Inventories of manufactured durable goods, up seven consecutive months, increased $1.8 billion, or 0.6 percent, to $311.2 billion in July. This followed a 1.3 percent June increase.