New orders for US-made durable goods rose a smaller-than-expected 2.5 per cent in February and excluding volatile transportation orders were down for the fourth time in the last five months, a government report today showed.
The Commerce Department reported that excluding transportation orders, which are heavily skewed by aircraft; durable goods orders - items meant to last three or more years - fell by 0.1 per cent.
Economists polled ahead of the report were expecting overall durable goods orders to advance by 3.5 per cent and by 1.6 per cent, excluding transportation.
In a further sign of weak demand, orders for nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft, viewed as a proxy for business spending, fell by 1.2 per cent last month after declining by 7.4 per cent in January.
Economists were expecting a 2.3 per cent gain. The rise in overall durable goods orders could be largely attributed to an 88.4 per cent surge in non-defense aircraft and parts orders and a 29.2 per cent gain in defense aircraft orders.
Automotive orders advanced by 1.3 per cent in February. Overall shipments fell by 0.8 per cent during the month.
