With orders for transportation equipment showing a substantial increase, the Commerce Department released a report on Monday showing that orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods rose by much more than expected in the month of December.
The report showed that durable goods orders surged up by 4.6 percent in December following a 0.7 percent increase in November. Economists had been expecting orders to increase by about 1.6 percent.
The bigger than expected increase in durable goods orders was largely due to an 11.9 percent jump in orders for transportation equipment, which followed a 0.5 percent drop in the previous month.
Orders for defense aircraft and parts saw a substantial 56.4 percent increase in December, while orders for non-defense aircraft and parts rose by 10.1 percent.
Excluding the jump in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders increased by a more modest 1.3 percent in December compared to a 1.2 percent increase in November. Ex-transportation orders had been expected to edge up by 0.4 percent.
Orders for primary metals increased by 3.6 percent, while orders for computers and electronic products climbed by 3.3 percent.
On the other hand, orders for electrical equipment, appliances, and components fell by 2.4 percent in December following a 2.8 percent increase in November.
The report also showed that orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, which is seen as an indicator of business spending, edged up by 0.2 percent in December after jumping by 3.0 percent in the previous month.
Shipments of durable goods increased by 1.3 percent in December following a 1.8 percent increase in November, while inventories of durable goods edged down by less than a tenth of a percent after fourteen consecutive monthly increases.
by RTT Staff Writer
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