Area Development
New orders for durable goods decreased by $2.2 billion, or 1.1 percent, during the month of May, the Census Bureau reports. New orders totaled $192 billion for the month. The decrease comes after five consecutive months of increases. The rate of durable goods manufactured grew by 3 percent in April.

Transportation equipment suffered the biggest decrease of $3.5 billion, or 6.9 percent. Non-defense aircraft and parts also showed a steep decline of $3 billion.

Unfilled orders grew by $1.4 billion in May, or 0.2 percent, to nearly $803 billion. Machinery had the biggest increase of $1.5 billion, or 1.7 percent, to $93.1 billion. That sector has risen for six of the last seven months.

Manufactured durable goods inventories rose by $2.5 billion, or 0.8 percent, to just over $304 billion. It increased by 0.8 percent in April. Primary metals saw the biggest inventory increase of nearly $1 billion, or 3 percent, to $30.7 billion.