New orders for durable goods strengthened 6.5% (16.1% y/y) during June following a 0.1% May slip, revised from -1.1%. A 2.8% increase in orders had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.

The rise in orders reflected strength in bookings for nondefense aircraft & parts which more than doubled m/m. It lifted nondefense capital goods orders by 21.0% (38.4% y/y) following declines during the prior two months. Less aircraft, nondefense capital goods orders eased 0.1% (+5.6% y/y) following a 0.7% improvement. A 19.0 rise (36.1% y/y) in transportation sector orders also reflected a 0.6% decline (+3.2% y/y) in motor vehicle & parts orders.

Outside of the transportation sector, durable goods orders improved 0.2%. That lifted y/y growth to 6.8%, up from the declining trend in place during 2015 and 2016. Fabricated metals orders rose 0.7% (10.4% y/y) while primary metals orders ticked 0.1% higher (11.7% y/y). Machinery orders gained 0.2% (10.5% y/y) following a 2.3% jump, but electrical equipment orders fell 1.7% (+2.1% y/y). Orders for computers & electronic products slipped 0.3% (+2.3% y/y) for the second straight month as orders for computers & related products eased 0.2% (+0.5% y/y), the third decline in the last four months. Communications equipment orders strengthened 1.6% (-3.7% y/y).

Shipments of durable goods were little changed (+4.3% y/y) last month. Declines also were logged in 2015 and 2016. Excluding transportation, shipments improved 0.2% (5.4% y/y). Unfilled orders jumped 1.3% (0.7% y/y) owing to the strength in aircraft. Excluding the transportation sector, backlogs improved 0.4% (3.7% y/y). Inventories of durable goods rose 0.4% (2.3% y/y), the largest monthly increase since July. Excluding transportation, inventories jumped 0.7% (3.9% y/y) following y/y decumulation through the end of last year.

The durable goods figures are available in Haver's USECON database. The Action Economics consensus forecast figure is in the AS1REPNA database.