U.S. Durable Goods Orders Unexpectedly Climb 0.9% In February

(RTTNews) - New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly increased in the month of February, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders climbed by 0.9 percent in February after spiking by an upwardly revised 3.3 in January.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to slump by 1.0 percent compared to the 3.2 percent surge that had been reported for the previous month.

The unexpected growth by durable goods orders partly reflected a continued increase by orders for transportation equipment, which jumped by 1.5 percent in February after soaring by 10.2 percent in January.

However, excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders still rose by 0.7 percent in February after inching up by 0.1 percent in January. Ex-transportation orders were expected to rise by 0.2 percent.

The increase by ex-transportation orders partly reflected a 2.0 percent surge by orders for electrical equipment, appliances and components as well as notable growth by orders for primary metals and fabricated metal products.

Meanwhile, the report said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key indicator of business spending, fell by 0.3 percent in February after climbing by 0.9 percent in January.

Shipments in the same category, which is the source data for equipment investment in GDP, increased by 0.9 percent in February after dipping by 0.2 percent in January.