The Real Economy Blog

Economic News from RSM

Home > Economics > Morning market minute: Firms to pull forward durable goods orders to avoid tariffs

Morning market minute: Firms to pull forward durable goods orders to avoid tariffs

by

Inside the University of Michigan’s survey on consumer sentiment for November, buying conditions for durable goods increased by more than 20%.

Firms appear to be acting rationally to avoid rising import taxes in the new year.

These purchases will bolster gross domestic product in the fourth quarter, which we have been tracking above 3%. The Atlanta Federal Reserve put the rate at 3.3% as of Dec. 5.

Durable goods orders

We expect that the proxies for productivity-enhancing capital good orders will increase notably in November and December, and that shipping activity into the port of Los Angeles-Long Beach will continue to hit record levels.

Read more of RSM’s insights on the economy and the middle market.

Related posts

About Joseph Brusuelas

@JoeBrusuelas

Joe Brusuelas, “chief economist to the middle market,” is the preeminent voice championing issues and policies facing midsize companies in the United States and around the world. An award-winning economist, Brusuelas has more than 20 years’ experience analyzing U.S. monetary policy, labor markets, fiscal policy, international finance, economic indicators and the condition of the U.S. consumer.

A member of the Wall Street Journal’s forecasting panel and the UCLA Anderson School of Management's Board of Directors, Brusuelas regularly briefs members of Congress and other senior officials regarding the impacts of federal policy on the middle market and the factors by which middle market executives make business decisions. He also frequently offers his insights on the U.S., Canadian and global economies in the financial media. In 2020, he was named one of the 100 most influential economists by Richtopia. In December 2023, Brusuelas and the economics team were recognized on Bloomberg's list of Best Bond Forecasters after correctly predicting where the benchmark Treasury would end the year.

Before joining RSM in 2014, Brusuelas spent four years as a senior economist at Bloomberg L.P. and the Bloomberg Briefs newsletter group, where he co-founded the award-winning Bloomberg Economic Brief. Earlier in his career, he was a director at Moody's Analytics covering the U.S. and global economies for the Dismal Scientist website. He also served as chief economist at Merk Investments L.L.C. and chief U.S. economist at IDEAglobal.

The Real Economy Blog