Economists at Econoday expected a 0.7% decline in durable goods orders in October. Instead, orders rose 0.6% but from negative revisions.
The Census Bureau revised September from -1.1% to -1.4% and defense spending did the rest.
New Orders
New orders for manufactured durable goods in October increased $1.5 billion or 0.6 percent to $248.7 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This increase, up four of the last five months, followed a 1.4 percent September decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.6 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.1 percent. Fabricated metal products, up two of the last three months, led the increase, $0.6 billion or 1.8 percent to $34.1 billion.
Shipments
Shipments of manufactured durable goods in October, up following three consecutive monthly decreases, increased less than $0.1 billion or virtually unchanged to $251.6 billion. This followed a 0.7 percent September decrease. Machinery, up two of the last three months, drove the increase, $0.3 billion or 1.0 percent to $33.1 billion.
Unfilled Orders
Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods in October, up three of the last four months, increased $1.4 billion or 0.1 percent to $1,164.8 billion. This followed a virtually unchanged September decrease. Transportation equipment, up four consecutive months, led the increase, $0.9 billion or 0.1 percent to $795.5 billion.
Inventories
Inventories of manufactured durable goods in October, up fifteen of the last sixteen months, increased $1.4 billion or 0.3 percent to $432.0 billion. This followed a 0.5 percent September increase. Transportation equipment, also up fifteen of the last sixteen months, drove the increase, $1.8 billion or 1.3 percent to $147.4 billion.
Capital Goods
Nondefense new orders for capital goods in October increased $2.2 billion or 3.2 percent to $73.3 billion. Shipments increased $1.0 billion or 1.4 percent to $75.1 billion. Unfilled orders decreased $1.8 billion or 0.3 percent to $688.2 billion. Inventories increased $1.4 billion or 0.7 percent to $195.8 billion. Defense new orders for capital goods in October increased $2.3 billion or 16.6 percent to $16.2 billion.
Shipments
increased $0.2 billion or 1.2 percent to $13.0 billion. Unfilled orders increased $3.2 billion or 2.0 percent to $161.4 billion. Inventories increased $0.4 billion or 1.5 percent to $24.3 billion.
Military Spending
Was today’s Durable Goods report “better than expected”? It was recessionary as are corp profits pic.twitter.com/Z1yNOGey4P
— Keith McCullough (@KeithMcCullough) November 27, 2019
Military spending led the increase in orders and the surge in capital goods as well.
Hooray?!
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
If anybody knows how to spend, it’s the MIC. Those $1280 coffee mugs and $14,000 toilet seat lids add up quickly, but it’s totally worth it when you get to wage Forever Wars!
Third quarter GDP was revised up to 2.1%. Slow growth ahead.
Just a little taste of 2019’s 984 billion dollar deficit. Is America Great Again Yet?
A totally deformed, Frankenstein economy – kept animated (for now) by a make-believe financial system.
I guess this is a good thing? After all, more “defense” (offense?) spending that builds more killing weapons to either use ourselves or to sell to others, keeps workers employed and collecting paychecks in the Military-Industrial complex.
I bring this up after reading the Politico story below, where an argument against M4A is that in simplifying medical insurance and making healthcare available to many others not presently covered, would result in the loss of many [make work] jobs! Sheeze.
Medicare for All’s jobs problem
The big Democratic talking point has a big political weakness: It could wipe out thousands of jobs in places like Pittsburgh that have built their new economies on health care.
11/25/2019
link to politico.com
I think one of our biggest underlying problems is that 80% of the population serves no useful purpose. That might be ok, if we can re-adjust our attitudes. We’re still in ‘work or starve’ mode, despite that no longer reflecting reality. It had been the reality for all of human history though, so the attitude is pretty ingrained in our cultures, maybe even our DNA.
Medicare for All, like Obamacare, is fundamentally flawed in that it forces a one-size-fits-all solution on a very heterogenous society.
The correct answer would be to run a public health service with free clinics (which, BTW, the US already has) as the safety net for those who can’t or won’t get medical insurance, and let the rest of Americans buy the coverage they actually want (or use the free clinics if they want). M4A and Obamacare are intended to shortcut the reality that life and its possible outcomes are not “fair,” so they inflict unfairness on all.