WASHINGTON - Durable goods orders in April surged 2.9%, more than double economists’ estimates, but the gain was driven mostly by transportation equipment orders, the Commerce Department reported today.
Excluding transportation, durable goods orders fell 1.0%, the first decline in three months and the largest drop in 13 months. New orders for transportation equipment jumped 16.1% for the month, the largest increase since January.
New nondefense aircraft orders, a very volatile category, more than tripled for the month, leading to the strong transportation orders gain. Motor vehicle and parts orders increased 1.6% in April after increasing 4.5% in March.
Economists expected durable goods would rise 1.1% in April and for goods excluding transport spending to increase 0.5%, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Durable goods orders for March were revised higher to no change from a 1.3% decline reported last month.
Orders for nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft, fell 2.4% following a 6.5% gain in March. Orders for overall nondefense capital goods increased 9.2%, the largest rise since last July.
Total unfilled orders for April increased 0.4%.
