Durable Goods Orders Rose 0.3% in June According to the Census Bureau
American factories took in $334.8 billion of new orders for durable goods in June, up 0.3 percent from May, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report on July 27.
Transportation equipment orders dragged the total down, and every other major category rose.
What durable goods are
Durable goods are things built to last at least three years, so that's cars, aircraft, machinery, appliances, computers and industrial metal. New orders are what customers committed to buy this month, which makes them a bet on the future. Shipments are what actually left the factory, which is production happening right now.
Orders bounce around from month to month while shipments move in much smaller steps.
Transportation equipment orders falling
Transportation equipment orders fell 13.5 percent in May and slipped another 0.2 percent in June, while everything else went up.
| # | New orders | April | May | June |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Total | $347.8B | $333.7B | $334.8B |
| 2 | Transportation equipment | $131.9B | $114.1B | $113.8B |
| 3 | Everything except transportation | $215.8B | $219.6B | $220.9B |
Orders outside transportation rose in April, again in May, and again in June, by 1.5 percent, then 1.8 percent, then 0.6 percent. Transportation orders are described as lumpy because a single large aircraft or equipment contract can swing a whole month.
June didn't undo May
May knocked $14.1 billion off the total and June added $1.1 billion back, which is less than a tenth of what was lost, so the level is still sitting well below where April finished.
Computers keep climbing
The strongest category was computers and electronic products, where orders rose 3.1 percent to $31.1 billion. They've now risen in nine of the last ten months, which is about as steady a run as this report produces. Shipments in that category were up 2.4 percent too, so it isn't just orders on paper. Not everything gained, since orders for fabricated metal products slipped 0.5 percent and machinery was flat at down 0.1 percent.
Shipments are the calmer signal
Shipments rose 0.7 percent in June to $330.7 billion, and they've gone up three months running, from $324.8 billion in April to $328.2 billion in May to $330.7 billion in June, with no 13 percent swings and no collapse anywhere in there. Factories are producing at a steadily rising rate even while the orders number lurches around.
How to read this report next month
The Census Bureau publishes this one monthly, usually near the end of the month, covering the month before. For a wider read on the economy from census data, see what the income data actually shows, or start with the U.S. overview.
Sources
All figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau's Monthly Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories and Orders for June 2026, release CB 26-117, published July 27, 2026. Category detail is from Table 1 of that release. Figures are seasonally adjusted and in current dollars, so they aren't adjusted for inflation.
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How much did durable goods orders rise in June 2026?
New orders for manufactured durable goods rose 0.3 percent, or $1.1 billion, to $334.8 billion in June 2026, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That followed a 4.0 percent drop in May. Excluding transportation, orders rose 0.6 percent.
Why does the durable goods report exclude transportation?
Transportation orders are lumpy, because a single large aircraft or equipment contract can swing an entire month. Transportation fell 13.5 percent in May while every other category rose, so the excluding-transportation line usually shows the underlying trend more clearly than the headline number does.
What is the difference between new orders and shipments?
New orders are what customers committed to buy during the month, which is a signal about future production. Shipments are what actually left the factory, which measures production now. Orders swing around a lot more than shipments, so when the two disagree, shipments usually describe the trend better.
