U.S. Durable Goods Orders Climb 0.5% In September, More Than Expected

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

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders climbed by 0.5 percent in September after spiking by an upwardly revised 3.0 percent in August.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 2.9 percent surge that had been reported for the previous month.

The bigger than expected increase by durable goods orders partly reflected surges by orders for electrical equipment, appliances and components and primary metals.

The report said orders for transportation equipment also rose by 0.4 percent in September after vaulting by 8.0 percent in August.

While orders for non-defense aircraft and parts tumbled by 6.1 percent in September after spiking by 20.2 in August, orders for defense aircraft and parts soared by another 30.9 percent in September after skyrocketing by 48.3 in August.

Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders increased by 0.6 percent in September after climbing by 0.5 percent in August. Ex-transportation orders were expected to inch up by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders excluding defense crept up by just 0.1 percent in September after jumping by 1.9 percent in August.

The report also said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key indicator of business spending, advanced by 0.9 percent for the second straight month.

"The muted gain in September durable goods orders was anticipated, but the strength in core orders, a better gauge of future business spending, reinforces our optimism for solid growth in equipment investment in the next quarters," said Bernard Yaros, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

Shipments in the same category, which is the source data for equipment investment in GDP, also increased by 0.9 percent in September after edging down by 0.1 percent in August.