The U.S. Commerce Department announced on Friday that the durable goods
orders jumped 1.1 percent m-o-m in April, following an upwardly revised 3.3
percent m-o-m climb (from 3.2 percent m-o-m) in March.
Economists had predicted a 1.0 percent m-o-m decline.
According to the report, the April gain was underpinned by advances in
orders in 4 of 9 sectors, led by capital goods (+4.6 percent m-o-m) and transportation
equipment (+3.7 percent m-o-m).
Meanwhile, orders for durable goods excluding transportation dropped 0.2
percent m-o-m in April, following an unrevised
0.3 percent m-o-m increase in
the previous month, slightly worse
than economists’ forecast of a 0.1 percent m-o-m slip.
Elsewhere, orders for non-defense capital goods
excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, surged
1.4 percent m-o-m last month after a downwardly revised 0.6 percent m-o-m decrease
(from -0.4 percent m-o-m) in March. Economists had expected a 0.2 percent m-o-m
drop in core capital goods orders in April.