US Core Capital Goods Orders Unchanged in January
New orders for key US capital goods were flat in January while shipments fell. This signal of weak business spending comes as manufacturing sector jobs decline.
New orders for key manufactured capital goods in the United States remained unexpectedly unchanged in January, as a decline in shipments pointed toward a weakening in business equipment spending at the start of the first quarter. Data released by the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau on Friday showed that non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft—a closely watched proxy for business spending—stagnated following an unrevised 0.8% increase in December. This performance fell short of expectations from economists polled by Reuters, who had anticipated a 0.5% rise.
Shipments of core capital goods, which factor into gross domestic product calculations, dipped 0.1% in January after a 1.0% gain in the previous month. The manufacturing sector continues to face significant headwinds, having lost 100,000 jobs since January 2025 despite the implementation of protectionist trade policies. The Census Bureau noted that it is still catching up on data releases following delays caused by a government shutdown in the previous year.
