Tuesday morning, the Commerce Department released its report on new orders for manufactured goods in the month of November, showing that orders fell by much more than economists had been expecting amid a steep drop in orders for non-durable goods.
The report showed that orders for manufactured goods fell by 4.6 percent in November following a revised 6.0 percent decrease in October. Economists had been expecting a decrease of about 2.6 percent compared to the 5.1 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.
A steep drop in orders for non-durable goods contributed to the bigger than expected decrease in factory orders, with orders for non-durable goods falling by 7.4 percent in November after slipping 3.8 percent in October.
Orders for durable goods showed a more modest decrease, falling by 1.5 percent in November following a steep 8.5 percent decline in October. Nonetheless, the decrease in durable goods orders was revised from the 1.0 percent decrease originally reported last month.
Excluding a 7.6 percent decrease in orders for transportation equipment, orders for manufactured goods still decreased by 4.2 percent in November compared to a 5.1 percent drop in October.
The report also showed that shipments of manufactured goods fell by 5.3 percent in November, marking the largest percent decrease since the series was first published on a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) basis in 1992.
Additionally, the Commerce Department said that inventories of manufactured goods fell by 0.3 percent in November after falling 0.6 percent in October.
With shipments of manufactured goods showing a much steeper decline than inventories, the inventories-to-shipments ratio rose to 1.41 in November from 1.33 in October.
At the same time, the report showed that orders for non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft, a key measure of capital spending, rose 3.9 percent in November after falling by 6.7 percent in the previous month.
However, Lou Brien, market strategist with DRW Trading, noted that the increase cuts against the recent trend as measured by the 3-month average annualized, which was down 28.0 percent.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.