Updated: 03-Sep-25 10:36 ET
Highlights
- Factory orders declined 1.3% month-over-month in July (Briefing.com consensus: -1.4%) following a 4.8% decline in June.
- Excluding transportation, factory orders increased 0.6% month-over-month following a 0.4% increase in June.
- Shipments of manufactured goods jumped 0.9% on the heels of a 0.6% increase in June.
- Durable goods orders were down 2.8% after declining 9.4% in June, led by a 9.5% decline in transportation equipment orders.
- New orders for nondurable goods rose 0.3% after increasing 0.4% in June.
- New orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft—a proxy for business spending—jumped 1.1% after sliding 0.6% in June.
- The inventory-to-shipments ratio dipped to 1.56 from 1.57.
- The key takeaway from the report is that the weakness in factory orders in July was concentrated in the transportation space, so the weakness was not as acute as the headline might suggest. New orders for primary metals (+1.6%), machinery (+1.9%), computers and electronic products (+1.2%), and electrical equipment, appliances, and components (+1.9%) were all up in a good sign for factory order activity.
| Category | JUL | JUN | MAY | APR | MAR |
| Factory Orders | -1.3% | -4.8% | 8.3% | -3.9% | 3.4% |
| Less Defense | -1.1% | -4.7% | 7.6% | -4.3% | 3.9% |
| Durable Goods | -2.8% | -9.4% | 16.5% | -6.6% | 7.6% |
| Nondurable Goods | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.1% | -1.0% | -0.7% |
| Unfilled Factory Orders | 0.0% | 0.9%% | 3.4% | 0.0% | 1.6% |
| Factory Shipments | 0.9% | 0.6% | 0.2% | -0.3% | -0.2% |
| Factory Inventories | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% | -0.1% | 0.1% |
| Inventory/Shipment Ratio | 1.56 | 1.57 | 1.57 | 1.58 | 1.57 |
