WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) — The U.S. Commerce Department said new orders for durable goods dropped 1.3 percent in March compared to February after three months of increases.
In March, durable good orders, items intended to last at least three years, fell by $2.2 billion to $176.7 billion, the Commerce Department said Friday.
Excluding the volatile category of transportation, however, new orders rose 2.8 percent, which will make the report encouraging to investors. Winnowing out defense spending, new orders fell 1.2 percent.
Transportation led the declines with a 12.9 percent drop to $40.2 billion. Much of this category is big ticket items — aircraft — that can shift numbers quickly on the backs of just a small decline in airplane orders.
Shipments of durable goods rose 1.2 percent to $182.2 billion, with shipments of machinery up 4.3 percent to $24 billion.
Inventories rose for the third consecutive month, climbing 0.2 percent over February to $304.7 billion.
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Tags: Durable Goods, March
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