U.S. Durable Goods Orders Rebound 0.8% In March, More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods rebounded by more than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders climbed by 0.8 percent in March after tumbling by a revised 1.2 percent in February.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 1.3 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month.

Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders grew by 0.9 percent in March after jumping by 1.2 percent in February. Ex-transportation orders were expected to climb by 0.4 percent.

The bigger than expected increase in durable goods orders partly reflected a surge in orders for computers and electronic products, which spiked by 3.7 percent.

Orders for machinery and electrical equipment, appliances and components also saw notable growth during the month.

The Commerce Department also said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key indicator of business spending, shot up by 3.3 percent in March after jumping by 1.6 percent in February.

Shipments in the same category, which is the source data for equipment investment in GDP, grew by 1.2 percent in March after increasing by 1.3 percent in February.

"The rapid gains in underlying capital goods orders and shipments are consistent with a double digit gain in business equipment investment in Q1," said Michael Pearce, Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

"One caveat is that even the March data reflects decisions taken before the war with Iran," he added. "Increased uncertainty last year was not a major drag on investment, but elevated oil prices will feed through to higher costs throughout the supply chain the longer they persist."