Key facts
- Factory orders rose 1.8% in September after an upwardly revised 0.3% gain in August, the Census Bureau said.
- Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 1.2% increase for September.
- Civilian aircraft and parts orders jumped 28.3%, while electrical equipment orders fell 0.3%.
- Core capital goods orders rose 0.6%, revised from 0.5%, and shipments of those goods rose 1.2%.
- Manufacturing accounts for about 9.4% of the US economy, per the Census Bureau.
New orders for US factory goods rose 1.8% in September, more than economists expected, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said in a report published on November 3. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 1.2% increase. The August figure was revised up to a 0.3% gain from 0.1% previously reported.
Orders were 7.2% higher than a year earlier. Bookings for civilian aircraft and parts, the volatile component of the series, jumped 28.3%. Machinery orders rose 1.5%, orders for computers and electronic products rose 0.8% and were up 14.9% year over year, and orders for motor vehicle bodies, parts and trailers edged up 0.1%. Orders for electrical equipment, appliances and components fell 0.3%.
Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a measure of business spending plans on equipment, increased 0.6% in September rather than the 0.5% reported a month earlier. Shipments of those core capital goods rose 1.2%, as initially estimated.
The Census Bureau said an artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout and strong consumer spending are anchoring manufacturing, which accounts for about 9.4% of the economy. Economists have cautioned that rising interest rates and declining inflation-adjusted household income would hamper manufacturing activity next year, particularly segments not exposed to AI spending.
A separate Institute for Supply Management survey published on Monday showed factory production rising in October, while sentiment among manufacturers continued to deteriorate. Pricing volatility, longer lead times, tariffs and the US-Israeli war with Iran were cited as drags.