Long Term Perspective

New orders for durable goods reveal demand for consumer goods such as cars and home appliances as well as investment equipment such as lathes and computers. Notice that the sharp demand for information technology in the late 1990s pointedly reversed direction in 2000. Another reversal occurred in late 2001 as new orders hit bottom. Incidentally, the Census Bureau stopped publishing data on semiconductors in the durable goods and factory orders reports. Thus, information technology is missing a component that used to be included. According to the Census Bureau, chipmakers no longer were willing to contribute to this voluntary survey.

Short Term Perspective

Total durable goods orders fell 0.2 percent in October, following a 1.4 percent drop in September. Orders for information technology goods declined 7.3 percent in October after rising 4.3 percent the month before.