New orders for durable goods rebounded last month. Overall durable goods orders increased 0.8% (5.3% y/y) during November following a 4.3% October decline. A 1.5% increase had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Orders for defense aircraft & parts led the gain with a nearly one-third increase, and they rose by three-quarters y/y. Orders for civilian aircraft also were firm and posted a 6.7% rise. Orders for motor vehicles parts eased 0.2% (+8.7% y/y) after a 0.5% rise. Excluding the transportation sector entirely, durable goods bookings slipped 0.3% (+4.9% y/y) after a 0.4% increase.

In the capital goods sector, the gain in civilian aircraft lifted nondefense orders by 0.7%. Elsewhere, orders weakened. Nondefense capital goods orders less aircraft fell 0.6% (+6.5% y/y), the third decline in the last four months.

Increased orders for metals accounted for the remainder of last month's rise in orders overall. Primary metals orders rose 1.0% (9.1% y/y) and fabricated metals increased 0.5% (5.1% y/y). Working the other way, machinery bookings declined 1.7% (+7.2 y/y) after three consecutive 0.2% gains. Orders for electrical equipment & appliances fell 0.7% (+5.7% y/y) after a 1.1% rise. Computer & electronic product orders held steady (6.4% y/y) after a 2.9% jump. Within that grouping, communication product orders rose 0.8% (5.8% y/y).

Shipments of durable goods rose 0.7% during November (6.2% y/y) following a 0.4% easing. Excluding the transportation sector, however, shipments held steady (4.6% y/y) after a 3.3% rise. Unfilled orders for durable goods eased 0.1% (+4.6% y/y) and excluding transportation, order backlogs rose 0.2% (4.9% y/y). Inventories of durable goods rose 0.3% (4.7% y/y) after a 0.2% improvement. Excluding transportation, inventories increased 0.3% (5.4% y/y) following a 0.1% uptick.

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