United States Durable Goods Orders

Durable goods orders in the US, which measure the cost of orders received by manufacturers of goods meant to last at least three years, soared 5.6 percent month-over-month in December of 2022. It was the sharpest gain since July 2020 and well above market forecasts of a 2.5 percent increase. Transportation equipment, up four of the last five months, drove the increase, $15.5 billion or 16.7 percent to $108.1 billion. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.1 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 6.3 percent. Meanwhile, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, went down by 0.2 percent from a month earlier in December of 2022, in line with market expectations.