United States Durable Goods Orders

New orders for manufactured durable goods in the US unexpectedly rose 0.2% month-over-month in August 2023, rebounding from an upwardly revised 5.6% slump in July, and beating market forecasts of a 0.5% fall. Orders for machinery led the increase (0.5%), followed by fabricated metal products (0.5%), computers and electronics (0.3%), and electrical equipment, appliances and components (1.1%). On the other hand, orders declined for capital goods (-0.2%), transportation equipment (-0.2%) and primary metals (-0.6%). Meanwhile, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, went up 0.9%, recovering from a 0.4% fall in July, and beating forecasts of a flat reading.