New orders for core capital goods inch up in February

New orders for core capital goods increased slightly for the second straight month as companies continued to navigate rising interest rates. 

The seasonally adjusted value of core capital goods orders, which excludes aircraft and defense equipment, landed at $75.2 billion, an increase of 0.2% month over month following a 0.3% rise in January, according to the Monthly Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments Inventories and Orders, released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Friday. Non-seasonally adjusted value of core capital goods landed at $71.3 billion, an increase of 0.8% MoM, according to the report.  

Equipment finance new business volume for February landed at $7.9 billion, down 10% MoM but up 11% year over year, according to the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s Monthly Leasing and Finance Index.  

Seasonally adjusted shipment values for core capital goods landed at $75.3 billion in February, remaining flat from January, according to Census Bureau data. Non-seasonally adjusted shipment values for core capital goods increased 2% to $67.8 billion in February. 

Overall, February’s seasonally adjusted new orders for manufactured durable goods decreased for the third time in the past four months, coming in at $268.4 billion, a decline of 1% MoM after a 5% decrease in January. Non-seasonally adjusted new orders for manufactured durable goods were $252.7 billion, up 1.1% MoM. 

The report is compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders (M3) survey, according to the bureau. Data published from the M3 survey are based on a panel of roughly 5,000 reporting units that represent about 3,100 companies and provide an indication of MoM change for manufacturing.