New orders for durable goods increased in May while shipments were flat.

The Commerce Department on Tuesday reported new orders increased 0.6% following a 0.4% increase in April. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.6%. Year to date, new orders for 2002 are 2.9% below the same period a year ago.
In contrast, shipments of durable goods were unchanged during May. This follows a 3.4% April increase. Year to date, shipments for 2002 are 3.1% below the same period a year ago.
Inventories for durable goods in May are down for the 16th consecutive month, falling 0.6%, following a 0.5% April decrease.
All of the figures exclude semiconductors because of the large number of semiconductor manufacturers choosing not to participate in this voluntary monthly survey.
Newport Communications Senior Economist Jim Haughey says the major change from April was a 2% drop in transportation equipment sales following a 6.3% surge the previous month.
“This industry often has large month-to-month swings," he says. "With orders up 0.5% in May, there is no indication of a weakening trend in this market,” he says.
He says metals, telecommunication equipment and electrical equipment weakened from April but machinery shipments jumped 2.6%, perhaps the first solid evidence that manufacturers are again adding new capacity. Other strong markets were computers, with shipments up 0.9%, and electronic components.