United States Durable Goods Orders

New orders for manufactured goods in the US jumped by 16.4% over a month to $343.6 billion in May 2025, the sharpest increase since July 2014, following a revised 6.6% slump in April and overshooting market forecasts of an 8.5% rise. Transportation equipment led the increase, soaring 48.3%, primarily nondefense aircraft and parts (+230.8%). Orders also rose significantly for capital goods (+48%), namely nondefense (+49.4%) and defense (+38.7%). Orders also increased for communications (2.9%); computers and related (2.4%); electronics (1.5%); electrical equipment, appliances, components (0.8%) and machinery (0.3%). Excluding transportation, new orders rose by 0.5%, following a revised flat reading in April and compared with market forecasts of no change. Meanwhile, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose by 1.7% in May, following a revised 1.4% advance in April and surpassing market estimates of a 0.1% increase.