Economic Impact Group, LLC Economic Data Brief
 
Manufacturing

Factory Orders (M3 Full Report) — May 2026

Released August 3, 2026 · Census Bureau · full release · charts & history on EconomicsGuru
Total manufacturing new orders fell 1.3% in May 2026 to $657.4B, +2.3% from a year ago. Prior month: $665.9B. Prior periods were revised in 15 series — figures below reflect that.
New orders
$657.4B
▼ −1.3% m/m
· +2.3% y/y
Core capex
$85.1B
▲ +0.9% m/m
· +12.5% y/y
Shipments
$653.2B
▲ +1.6% m/m
· +8.9% y/y

Revision check

REVISIONS DETECTED (15) — since first published. Every change below is calculated on the revised figures.
Durable goods orders · April 2026$346.0B→$347.8B▲ +$1.8B
Durable goods orders · March 2026$318.9B→$320.5B▲ +$1.6B
Durable goods orders · May 2026$332.1B→$333.7B▲ +$1.7B
Durable goods ex transportation · May 2026$218.6B→$219.6B▲ +$1.1B
Core capital goods orders (nondefense ex aircraft) · March 2026$82.9B→$83.3B▲ +$0.4B
Total manufacturing new orders · April 2026$662.7B→$665.9B▲ +$3.2B
Core capital goods orders (nondefense ex aircraft) · April 2026$82.4B→$82.8B▲ +$0.4B
Core capital goods orders (nondefense ex aircraft) · May 2026$84.0B→$84.3B▲ +$0.3B
Durable goods ex transportation · April 2026$215.1B→$215.8B▲ +$0.8B
Total manufacturing new orders · March 2026$630.4B→$632.6B▲ +$2.2B
Total shipments · February 2026$623.2B→$625.1B▲ +$1.9B
Total shipments · April 2026$641.0B→$642.9B▲ +$1.9B
Total manufacturing new orders · February 2026$619.6B→$621.3B▲ +$1.7B
Durable goods ex transportation · March 2026$212.2B→$212.7B▲ +$0.6B
and 1 more smaller revisions (all of them are applied to the figures below).

Key figures

Headline →May 2026April 2026M/M chgM/M %Y/Y chgY/Y %12-period trend
Total manufacturing new ordersREVISED
millions of dollars, SA — the full report, durables plus nondurables
$657.4B$665.9B▼ −$8.5B▼ −1.3%▲ +$14.8B▲ +2.3%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Durable goods ordersREVISED$334.8B$333.7B▲ +$1.1B▲ +0.3%▲ +$23.0B▲ +7.4%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Durable goods ex transportationREVISED$220.9B$219.6B▲ +$1.3B▲ +0.6%▲ +$21.8B▲ +11.0%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Core capital goods orders (nondefense ex aircraft)REVISED$85.1B$84.3B▲ +$0.8B▲ +0.9%▲ +$9.5B▲ +12.5%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trend bars show year-over-year % change for index series, the level for rates and survey indexes over the last 13 periods; the latest period is highlighted.
Shipments, backlog and inventories →May 2026April 2026M/M chgM/M %Y/Y chgY/Y %12-period trend
Total shipmentsREVISED$653.2B$642.9B▲ +$10.3B▲ +1.6%▲ +$53.6B▲ +8.9%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unfilled orders$1,579.5B$1,570.3B▲ +$9.2B▲ +0.6%▲ +$123.9B▲ +8.5%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Inventories$962.0B$959.8B▲ +$2.1B▲ +0.2%▲ +$17.9B▲ +1.9%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Core capital goods shipments (feeds GDP equipment investment)REVISED$83.0B$81.4B▲ +$1.5B▲ +1.9%▲ +$7.0B▲ +9.3%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trend bars show year-over-year % change over the last 13 periods; the latest period is highlighted.

What stood out

  • Core capital goods orders (nondefense ex aircraft): highest level on record (data back to February 1992).
  • Durable goods ex transportation: up 11.0% from a year ago — the fastest pace since March 2022.
  • Core capital goods shipments (feeds GDP equipment investment): up 9.3% from a year ago — the fastest pace since June 2022.
  • Total shipments: up 8.9% from a year ago — the fastest pace since October 2022.
  • Inventories: up 1.9% from a year ago — the fastest pace since August 2023.

Sources

Economic Impact Group, LLC
Economic research for developing communities
Prepared 2026-08-03 15:45 UTC. Green marks an increase, red a decrease — direction only, not good or bad.