New durable goods orders also increase, suggesting shipments will continue to rise near-term.

• Both Orders and Shipments have registered double-digit gains year-over-year, by 10.6 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively, although the pace has been slowing for the past few months.
•  The value of shipments has increased by 26 percent since 2010, but sector employment has risen by just 7 percent.
• The Manufacturing sector lost 1.36 million jobs during the pandemic shutdown, and despite recovering nearly two-thirds of them, are still more than half a million jobs below pre-pandemic levels.
• The largest gains among the six major durable goods categories tracked are for Primary Metals and Transportation, up 21 percent and 16 percent, respectively, with Transportation accounting for nearly a third of all durable goods orders.
• Total Machinery shipments registered the next highest gains, up 15 percent from last year.
• Computers & Electronic Equipment shipments posted the smallest annual increase with a gain of 6 percent.

All six major durable goods shipment categories have grown significantly in the past year, led by a gain of 21 percent for primary metals.