The US Census Bureau announced Wednesday that new orders of manufactured durable goods fell 0.8 percent or $1.5 billion in September compared to August. New orders had also fallen 0.1 percent in August. A decline in the transportation sector led the overall drop-off with a 7.5 percent slump. Excluding transportation, new orders actually increased 1.7 percent. New orders of primary metals rose 2.6 percent in September after a 0.1 percent increase in August, while new orders of fabricated metal products increased 1.9 percent after a decline of 0.7 percent in August.
Shipments of manufactured goods decreased $1.4 billion or 0.7 percent in September after increasing the past four months. Transportation also led the decline in shipments, with a 2.7 percent decrease. Meanwhile, shipments of primary metals increased 1.5 percent in September following a 0.5 percent decrease in August and shipments of fabricated metal products were up 1.3 percent in September compared to a 0.9 percent decrease the month before.