Hey, here’s some good news: durable goods orders were up 1.8% in May. New orders for non-defense goods actually rose 5%. This is the third increase in the last four months, so I’d call that momentum.
You can read more here, but here are the highlights:
“The May durable goods report adds a persuasive component to a growing body of evidence that U.S. economic activity is beginning to stabilize after a deep contraction,” said Cliff Waldman, Economist for the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI. “Stripping out either transportation or defense, two volatile categories of demand, new orders were up over 1%. And ‘manufacturing with unfilled orders’ had a sharp increase for the second consecutive month, indicating that demand is beginning to make a positive contribution to future production.
“The industrial composition of orders was mixed in May, although soaring demand for machinery is a positive sign for a broad U.S. economic recovery,” Waldman added. “Further, new orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for business equipment spending, rose by nearly 5% after a deep fall of nearly 3% the prior month, an indication that business confidence in future economic activity is starting to improve. Nonetheless, the still sharp declines in year-over-year activity across all categories of demand is a reminder that the U.S. factory sector still has a long way to go and is facing the headwind of one of the deepest global contractions in a generation.”
Are you feeling the positive momentum in your company/industry?
