(Jan 27): US orders for durable goods increased in November by the most in six months, boosted by bookings for commercial aircraft and other capital equipment.
Orders for durable goods — items meant to last at least three years — rose 5.3% after a revised 2.1% decline a month earlier, according to a Commerce Department report that was delayed by the federal government shutdown.
The data out on Monday also showed the value of core capital goods orders, a proxy for investment in equipment that excludes aircraft and military hardware, increased a larger-than-forecast 0.7%.
The Commerce Department’s report showed bookings for commercial aircraft, which are volatile from month to month, increased nearly 98%. Boeing Co said it received 164 orders in November, up from 15 in October, and 175 last month.
The government’s report showed core capital goods shipments, a less volatile metric that excludes planes and military hardware, rose 0.4%. Economists prefer the core equipment shipments figure to gauge underlying investment because there is a delay between orders and actual shipments.
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The durables report showed a broad increase in bookings, including orders for communications equipment, computers, machinery and electrical equipment.
Economists expect business investment to pick up this year as companies take advantage of tax provisions from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act enacted last year. Outside of investment in artificial intelligence, businesses may be growing more comfortable about spending as uncertainty about trade policy and concerns about demand diminish.
| Metric | Actual | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Durable goods orders | +5.3% | +3.8% |
| Capital goods orders excl. defense & aircraft | +0.7% | +0.3% |
| Capital goods shipments, excl. defense & aircraft | +0.4% | +0.3% |
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“While uncertainty is far from eliminated, executives appear to have reached the point where they have enough information to move forward,” Stephen Stanley, chief US economist at Santander US Capital Markets LLC, said in a note.
“The robust core capital goods orders and shipments figures for the second half of last year suggest that momentum in business investment has been building heading into 2026,” he said.
Non-defence capital goods shipments including aircraft, which contribute to the equipment investment portion of the gross domestic product report, fell 2%. Rather than orders that can be cancelled, the government uses data on shipments as an input to GDP.
After the durables report, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow forecast anticipated a slight decrease in business equipment outlays for the fourth quarter.
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