United States Durable Goods Orders

Durable goods orders in the US rose by 2.9% month-over-month to $312.1 billion in August 2025, reversing a revised 2.7% slump in July and better than market estimates of a 0.5% fall. Yet, part of the increase likely reflects higher prices rather than increased volumes, as tariffs on imported goods raise manufacturing costs. It was the first increase in goods orders in three months, led by transport equipment (+7.9%), notably defense aircraft and parts (+50.1%) and nondefense aircraft and parts (+21.6%). Orders also rose for items such as machinery (+1.3%); communications equipment (+1.5%) and fabricated metal products (+0.7%), but declined significantly for computers and related products (-2%). New orders were up 0.4% when excluding transportation, and 1.9% when excluding defense. Meanwhile, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose by 0.6% in August, after a 0.8% increase in the prior month.