New orders for durable goods in the United States jumped 3.3% in April to partially retrace an upwardly revised 5.9% decline (was -6.9%) in March that, in turn, followed an outsized 6.4% jump in February.
Figures out of Washington this morning indicate that much of the increase in overall orders was concentrated in an 8.1% jump in orders for transportation equipment, reflecting largely a 25.7% surge in the volatile aircraft component. With that said, excluding the transportation sector orders still rose a solid 1.3%, reflecting relatively broadly-based increases.
Orders of non -defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a commonly used leading indicator of future business capital investment, jumped 1.2% following a 0.9% increase in March that represented a notably stronger reading than the previously reported 0.6% decline.
In contrast to the jump in monthly orders, shipments of durable goods dropped 0.6% in April. Shipments non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, which is the component of the report that enters directly into the Bureau of Economic Analysis' quarterly estimate of business fixed capital spending, declined 1.5% following 0.5% and 1.6% gains in March and February, respectively. Inventories of durable goods rose 0.4% after declining 0.1% in March.
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