US factory orders for durable goods dropped 4.5% in May to $332.1B, a $15.6B decline driven almost entirely by vanishing demand for commercial aircraft. The overall factory orders figure fell 1.3%, reversing April’s 4.8% surge that had been fueled by a wave of Boeing bookings.
The US Census Bureau published the advance report on June 25, and the numbers paint a picture of two very different manufacturing economies living under the same roof. One is getting crushed by volatile aircraft cycles. The other is quietly humming along.
Boeing’s bad month did most of the damage
Transportation equipment orders plunged 14.0% in May, landing at $113.5B.
Boeing secured just 27 gross new orders during the month. For context, Airbus pulled in 379 gross orders over the same period.
