[Editors Note: The US Census Website is down, and cannot obtain data. Econintersect‘s graphic resource FRED (St. Louis Fed) also cannot update. Therefore no analysis can be performed – and we are simply parroting the headline release which came by email.]
New orders for manufactured goods in May, down following three consecutive monthly increases, decreased $2.6 billion or 0.5 percent to $497.7 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. This followed a 0.8 percent April increase. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.1 percent. Shipments, up four consecutive months, increased $0.3 billion or 0.1 percent to $498.3 billion. This was at the highest level since the series was first published on a NAICS basis in 1992 and followed a 0.4 percent April increase.
Unfilled orders, up thirteen of the last fourteen months, increased $6.7 billion or 0.6 percent to $1,087.4 billion. This was also at the highest level since the series was first published on a NAICS basis and followed a 0.9 percent April increase. The unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio was 6.51, up from 6.47 in April. Inventories, up eighteen of the last nineteen months, increased $5.0 billion or 0.8 percent to $651.5 billion. This was also at the highest level since the series was first published on a NAICS basis and followed a 0.5 percent April increase. The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.31, up from 1.30 in April.