Global| Apr 02 2013U.S. Factory Orders Increase Sharply
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Orders to all manufacturers increased an expected 3.0% (2.7% y/y) during February, following a 1.0% January decline, revised from -2.0%. A 5.6% rebound (3.9% y/y) in durable goods bookings, little-revised from the advance report, led [...]
Orders to all manufacturers increased an expected 3.0% (2.7% y/y) during February, following a 1.0% January decline, revised from -2.0%. A 5.6% rebound (3.9% y/y) in durable goods bookings, little-revised from the advance report, led the overall surge in orders. It reflected a doubling in orders for commercial aircraft & parts as well as a 3.3% gain (4.4% y/y) in electrical equipment & appliance orders. Shipments of durable goods rose 1.0% (4.8% y/y) helped higher by a 2.5% rise (10.1% y/y) in machinery.
Nondurable goods orders, which equal shipments, rose 0.8% (1.8% y/y) and added to the 1.4% January increase. Shipments from petroleum refineries rose 3.3% (3.6% y/y) as prices improved. The value of apparel shipments rose 1.8% (3.1% y/y) and shipments of paper products ticked up 0.2% (-1.4% y/y). Shipments of chemicals slipped 0.3% (-3.5% y/y).
Inventories in the factory sector increased a moderate 0.2% in February (2.2% y/y) after a 0.6% January rise. Apparel inventories rose 2.6% (12.4% y/y) while chemical inventories increased 1.2% (1.3% y/y). In the durable goods sector inventories gained 0.5% (4.3% y/y). A 1.6% rise (11.1% y/y) in transportation sector inventories was countered by a 0.3% slip in machinery. Order backlogs jumped 0.9% (+1.4% y/y) with the sharp increase in orders and just a moderate rise in shipments.
The factory sector figures are available in Haver's USECON database. The expectation figure is in AS1REPNA.
| Factory Sector- NAICS Classification | Feb | Jan | Dec | Y/Y | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Orders | 3.0 | -1.0 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 11.8 | 18.0 |
| Shipments | 0.9 | 0.4 | -0.0 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 11.8 | 11.2 |
| Inventories | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 9.4 | 8.8 |
| Unfilled Orders | 0.9 | -0.0 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 10.3 | 9.6 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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