Durable Goods Orders Stall in August — Evening Brief – 09.25.26

A flat headline reading for U.S. durable goods orders in August masked stronger demand for equipment used by businesses. Transportation orders pulled the total down, while orders excluding aircraft and defense climbed.

New orders for durable goods edged down $58 million to a seasonally adjusted $338.6 billion, a change the Census Bureau rounded to 0.0%. That followed a revised 0.9% increase in July. Orders excluding transportation rose 0.3%, and orders excluding defense increased 0.1%.

Transportation equipment orders fell 0.6%, or $745 million, to $114.1 billion. Orders for nondefense aircraft and parts dropped 4.3% after rising 12% in July. Motor vehicle and parts orders declined 0.6%. Defense aircraft orders, by contrast, increased 5.9%.

Nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft — a closely watched indicator of business equipment investment — rose 1.6% to $87.6 billion. Shipments in that category increased 0.6% to $85 billion; shipments are more directly relevant to current-quarter economic output than new orders. Machinery orders rose 1.1%, and primary metals orders increased 1.2%.

Overall durable goods shipments fell 0.2% to $333.8 billion, their first decline after eight consecutive monthly increases. Transportation shipments accounted for the drop, falling 1.8%.

Manufacturers’ unfilled orders rose 0.6% to $1.61 trillion, increasing for the 25th time in 26 months. Inventories climbed 0.5% to $608.1 billion, their 11th consecutive monthly gain.