Durable Goods Orders definition

• Durable Goods Orders refer to orders for higher priced products used in industry, such as raw steel, heavy machinery computer equipment, tanks, and airplanes. This is a significant market indicator, as an enterprise will only invest in such expensive items when they are confident about the health of their company and the economy as a whole. One large order in a single sector can drastically impact month on month results, so some releases will not include specific sector orders, such as those for defense and/or transport. Comparing durable goods orders for the entire year with those of the previous year is the most reliable means of evaluating the results, which are a strong indicator for the GDP growth rate, which is also evaluated based on annual figures.