WASHINGTON — February durable goods orders data were in line with expectations for an aircraft-led decline, with the headline number falling by 1.6%, compared with a 1.8% decline expected by a Bloomberg median and a 1.6% decline in an MNI survey.
The durable goods orders drop was mostly due to a 4.8% decline in transportation orders, particularly a 31.1% drop in nondefense aircraft orders. Boeing data were extremely weak in February, so a very large decline in aircraft orders was expected.
Excluding transportation, new orders rose 0.1% in the month, just above the flat reading expected by an MNI survey, and as expected by the Bloomberg consensus. There were gains in primary metals, fabricated metals, and electrical equipment, and declines in computers and electronic products and the "all other durable goods" component.
Nondefense capital goods news orders were down 6.3% in February, and were still down by 0.1% excluding aircraft. Nondefense capital goods shipments rose 0.6% in the month, while shipments ex. aircraft were flat, suggesting some weakness for first quarter nonresidential fixed investment after a strong gain in the fourth quarter.
