Durable Goods Orders Rose 0.3% in December

Durable goods orders increased 0.3% in December, according to data released yesterday by the Commerce Department. Even though the headline figure was the sector’s first increase in the past three months, it still came in far below economists’ expectations.

The overall 0.3% increase in durable goods orders followed a revised 0.4% decline in November, originally reported as a 0.2% rise.

Meanwhile, new orders for durable goods excluding transportation rose 0.9%, following a revised 2.1% increase in November that was originally reported as a 2.0% rise, Commerce said.

The 0.3% headline orders figure was far below a 2.0% increase predicted by a median estimate of economists polled by Thomson Reuters. But the 0.9% ex-transportation figure easily beat economists’ estimated 0.5% uptick.

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