Orders for U.S. manufactured goods slipped by 0.5 percent in September, marking the fourth decline in five months, according to data from the Commerce Department released Monday.
The decline undercuts claims by Kamala Harris that the Biden administration had sparked a manufacturing boom. In fact, manufacturing activity has been contracting for nearly two years and manufacturing jobs have fallen for three straight months.
The drop matched economists’ forecasts, following indications from the advance report on durable goods that had pointed to softening demand.
In the latest comprehensive figures, durable-goods orders were revised to a 0.7 percent decline for September, a slight improvement from the initially reported 0.8 percent drop. This follows a 0.9 percent decrease in August, suggesting a continuing slowdown in manufacturing activity.
The primary driver of September’s decline was a decrease in civilian aircraft orders, a volatile category that often skews monthly figures. When transportation equipment is excluded, however, overall orders showed a modest 0.1 percent increase, indicating underlying resilience in other segments of the manufacturing sector despite headwinds from weaker transportation demand.