March Factory Orders Rise 1.1%; Ex-Transportation Up 0.8%

WASHINGTON – The value of new factory orders rose by 1.1% in March, stronger than expected in an MNI survey, as nondurables orders jumped 1.5% and durables orders were unrevised with a 0.8% increase, data released by the Commerce Department Wednesday morning showed.

Total factory orders excluding transportation rose 1.1% in March, the first increase in the series since October 2015 and the largest increase since June 2014. Durables orders excluding transportation were down 0.2% in the month, unrevised from the advance estimate.

The change in February factory orders was revised down to a 1.9% decline from the previously reported 1.7% decline.

Petroleum and coal products shipments rose 8.0% in March following a 2.8% decline in the previous month, leading the strong gain in nondurables orders in the month. Nondurables shipments are equivalent to orders in this report.

Transportation orders rose 2.8% in March based on Wednesday's data, a small upward revision from the 2.9% gain in the advance estimate.

Nondefense aircraft orders fell 5.7% in March, while defense aircraft orders rose 65.3%. Motor vehicles orders fell 0.9% in March, but orders for ships and boats jumped 65.4%.

Nondefense capital goods new orders fell 1.0%, but were up 0.1% when the civilian aircraft category is excluded.

Overall factory shipments rose 0.5% in the month and nondefense capital goods shipments were up 0.6%. Excluding the civilian aircraft component, nondefense capital goods shipments rose 0.5%.

Factory inventories were up 0.2% in March at the same time that shipments posted a gain, so the inventory-to-shipments ratio was unchanged at 1.37 in March, the same as in March 2015. Unfilled orders posted a 0.1% decrease.

Market News International is a real-time global news service for fixed-income and foreign exchange market professionals. See www.marketnews.com.

Market News International is a real-time global news service for fixed-income and foreign exchange market professionals. See www.marketnews.com.
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