In an advance report released Tuesday on manufacturer shipments, inventories and orders, the US Census Bureau announced that shipments of manufactured durable goods increased for the second consecutive month to $207.8 billion in January.
Inventories of manufactured goods also increased, for the 25th consecutive month to $372.5 billion--the highest level since the series was first published in 1992. Specifically, the machinery sector had the largest increase of 1.4 percent to $61.4 billion.
On the other hand, new orders of manufactured durable goods decreased during the month of January--following three months of increases--by 4 percent to $206.1 billion. Unfilled orders for the month increased by 0.5 percent to $917.1 billion, with transportation equipment having the largest increase of 0.9 percent.