New orders and shipments of manufactured goods posted an increase in July after falling the month before. This news follows several other readings this week on the economy.

On Thursday the U.S. Commerce Department reported new orders for manufactured goods increased 4.7% in July following a 2.5% decline in June, the largest increase since October of last year. When new orders for durable and non-durable goods are broken out, durable goods showed a 9.2% jump, while non-durable orders fell by just 0.3%.
Shipments of manufactured goods posted a 1.6% gain, following a 0.9% drop in June. Shipments of durable goods increased 3.2%, while non-durable shipments fell 0.3%.
“While manufacturing shipments increased in July, the key durable goods sector, which provides most of dry van freight, posted another drop,” notes Newport Communications Senior Economist Jim Haughey.
“This confirms earlier indications that consumers were too busy during the summer buying houses and cars at a record pace and trying to stay cool to hit the malls,” he says. “But the summer lull in packaged goods freight is likely temporary because the strong sales of consumer durables, capital goods and homes will keep personal income rising at least an average rate.”
Haughey says a 14% increase in auto and light truck shipments from manufacturers was a bright spot during July.
“Dealer sales in August rose to a record 18.7 million units at an annual rate, up from 18 million in July. GM has announced it will increase its fourth quarter production schedule and other manufacturers are likely to also boost fall production. This will translate into more business for auto haulers,” he says.
Haughey notes other strong growth markets in July were construction machinery, computers and defense equipment.
“Heavy duty truck shipments gained 5.4% following nearly 5% growth over the previous two months. This suggests a modest amount of advance buying before the new engines hit the market on Oct. 1.”
This news comes on the same day the Labor Department released a revised report that worker productivity in the second quarter of the year rose 1.5%, following an 8.6% increase in the first quarter. Also the Labor Department’s four-week moving average of the number of people collecting first time unemployment benefits increased to 400,000, the highest level since early June.
Other measures of the economy released earlier in the week include numbers on construction spending, which was nearly unchanged from June to July. The Commerce Department reported non-residential construction fell 2.2% in July after dropping 2.9% in June, while new home construction increased 0.1% in July.
On Tuesday, new figures from the Institute of Supply Management indicated manufacturing activity in the United States grew for the seventh straight month during August. However, new orders in the manufacturing sector fell from July and there are signs that area may be contracting.