WASHINGTON – Durable goods orders rose 2.7% in January, driven by orders for aircraft, as durable orders excluding transportation dropped by 3.6%, the largest amount in a year, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
The drop in durable orders excluding transportation was its first in four months. Durable orders for transportation goods jumped 27.6% for the month as businesses placed orders for nondefense aircraft and parts.
Economists expected durable goods would increase 2.7% and durable orders excluding transportation would increase 0.4%, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
December durable goods orders were revised higher to a 0.4% decline from a 2.5% drop reported last month. Excluding transportation, orders increased 3.0% in December, up from the initial estimate of a 0.5% rise.
January durable goods had steep declines in orders for machinery and communications products.
Orders for machinery goods fell 13.0%, the largest decline in seven years. Orders for communications equipment dropped 14.4%, the biggest drop in 28 months. Both sectors reported increases for the last two months.
Nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft fell 6.9%, the largest drop in a year.
Total unfilled orders increased 0.5% and the total value of shipments gained 0.3%.
