United States Factory Orders

New orders for US manufactured goods went down 3.7% month-over-month to $594.6 billion in April 2025, the first decline in five months, following a 3.4% rise in March and compared to forecasts of a 3% drop. Orders were down 17.1% for transportation equipment, led by a 51.5% plunge in those for nondefense aircraft and parts, as tariff concerns drove airlines to halt demand for Boeing aircraft, which only received eight orders. Decreases were also seen in orders for primary metals (-0.1%), namely aluminum and nonferrous metals (-2.3%), and electrical equipment, appliances, and components (-0.3%). On the other hand, factory orders rose for computers and electronics (1%), machinery (0.6%) and fabricated metal products (0.9%). Meanwhile, shipments of manufactured durable goods edged up 0.3%, unfilled orders were virtually unchanged and inventories rose 0.2%.