U.S. Durable Goods Orders Unexpectedly Rebound 0.2% In August

(RTTNews) - After reporting a sharp pullback in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday unexpectedly showing a modest rebound in durable goods orders in the month of August.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders crept up by 0.2 percent in August after plunging by a revised 5.6 percent in July.

The uptick surprised economists, who had expected durable goods orders to fall by 0.5 percent compared to the 5.2 percent nosedive that had been reported for the previous month.

The modest rebound in durable goods orders was partly due to a jump in order for electrical equipment, appliances and components, which shot up by 1.1 percent in August after slipping by 0.3 percent in July.

Orders for fabricated metal products, machinery and computer and electronic products also increased during the month.

Meanwhile, the report said orders for transportation equipment edged down by 0.2 percent in August after plummeting by 14.8 percent in July.

The modest decrease came as an extended nosedive in orders for non-defense aircraft and parts more than offset a surge in orders for defense aircraft and parts.

Excluding the dip in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose by 0.4 percent in August after inching up by a downwardly revised 0.1 percent in July.

Economists had expected ex-transportation orders to edge up by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.5 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department also said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key indicator of business spending, advanced by 0.9 percent in August after falling by 0.4 percent in July.

Meanwhile, shipments in the same category, which is the source data for equipment investment in GDP, climbed by 0.7 percent in August after slipping by 0.3 percent in July.