January Manufacturing Orders Showed Best Growth In 10 Months

The latest monthly manufacturing numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau reflected a strong start to 2016 as new orders for durable goods increased by nearly 5 percent.

The survey estimated that durable goods orders increased by $11.1 billion — or 4.9 percent — in January for a total of $237.5 billion. The jump followed two consecutive monthly decreases and was the largest increase since March 2015.

Transportation equipment manufacturing fueled the January data with $8.2 billion in new orders to $79.7 billion, an 11.5 percent increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.8 percent last month.

In addition, shipments of manufactured durable goods increased 1.9 percent, or $4.6 billion, in January, which reversed a December decline. Transportation equipment also led that category with a 5.7 percent jump.

The totals provided another possible indicator that the nation’s manufacturing sector, which was sluggish for much of the latter half of 2015, could be rounding into form.

The Federal Reserve last week said that manufacturing output increased by 0.5 percent in January, the largest jump since July.

Analysts suggested that manufacturers were struggling last year amid a strong dollar and declining inventory levels. Durable goods inventories, the Census Bureau reported, declined slightly last month after a small increase in December.

SOURCE: Manufacturing.net