# US durable goods orders are flat in August at $338.6 billion as transport weighs and other orders rise

> New orders excluding transportation rose 0.3%, the Census Bureau said, while aircraft and vehicle orders fell. Shipments dropped 0.2% after eight straight increases.

- Canonical URL: https://forextradingcommunity.com/news/us-durable-goods-august-2026/
- Type: Data
- Published: 2026-10-06
- Updated: 2026-10-06
- Publisher: Forex Trading Community (https://forextradingcommunity.com), FTC Editorial Team
- Currencies: USD

The Census Bureau's advance report on durable goods, published on 25 September 2026, shows new orders for manufactured durable goods in August of $338.6 billion, down $0.1 billion, or virtually unchanged. That follows a 0.9% rise in July, which was revised and now stands at $338.7 billion. The Bureau notes that statistical significance cannot be measured for this survey.

## The details

- **New orders**: $338.6 billion, virtually unchanged. Excluding transportation, orders rose 0.3%; excluding defence, 0.1%
- **Transportation equipment**: orders fell $0.7 billion, or 0.6%, to $114.1 billion, down three of the last four months, and drove the decrease
- **Shipments**: $333.8 billion, down 0.2% after eight consecutive monthly increases; transportation equipment shipments fell 1.8% to $109.5 billion
- **Unfilled orders**: up 0.6% to $1,609.4 billion, the twenty-fifth increase in twenty-six months
- **Inventories**: up 0.5% to $608.1 billion, an eleventh consecutive rise
- **Nondefense capital goods orders**: up 1.2% to $100.5 billion, with shipments down 1.3% to $95.5 billion
- **Defence capital goods orders**: down 1.5% to $21.5 billion

Transportation equipment orders swing widely from month to month, so economists often look at the figure excluding transportation. On that measure August was positive, and nondefense capital goods orders, a pointer to business investment, also rose. The weaker shipments figure and the rise in inventories point the other way: manufacturers are building stock faster than they ship.

## The backdrop

Industrial production was flat in August ([report](/news/us-industrial-production-august-2026/)), and the ISM manufacturing index for September, published on 1 October, stood at 54.5 with a prices index of 77.9 ([report](/news/ism-pmi-september-2026-prices-77-9-services-54-9/)). The Federal Reserve raised its target range to 3.75%–4.00% on 16 September ([report](/news/fed-raises-rates-september-2026/)).

The Census Bureau publishes the September durable goods report on 27 October, the day before the Fed decides. [PMIs explained](/news/pmi-explained/) covers how survey and hard data fit together. Live prices: [EUR/USD](/markets/eur-usd/).

## Sources

- [US Census Bureau: Monthly Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories and Orders, August 2026, 25 September 2026 (PDF, replaced with each release)](https://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/adv/pdf/durgd.pdf)

## Common questions

### What were US durable goods orders in August 2026?

The Census Bureau reported new orders of $338.6 billion, virtually unchanged from July, with orders excluding transportation up 0.3%.

### Why were durable goods orders flat in August 2026?

Transportation equipment, which fell $0.7 billion or 0.6%, drove the decrease. Other orders rose, and nondefense capital goods orders increased 1.2%.

### When is the next durable goods report?

The Census Bureau publishes the September advance report on 27 October 2026.

---

This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Trading forex and CFDs carries a high risk of losing money.