US durable goods unchanged in December
ORDERS for long-lasting US manufactured goods were unexpectedly unchanged in December amid a slump in transportation equipment, but demand elsewhere held up.
The Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Thursday (Jan 25) that the unchanged reading in orders for durable goods, items ranging from toasters to aircraft meant to last three years or more, followed a 5.5 per cent rebound in November.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast durable goods orders would rise 1.1 per cent. Orders increased 4.4 per cent on a year-over-year basis in December.
Manufacturing, which accounts for 10.3 per cent of the economy, continues to be hamstrung by higher interest rates, which are curbing demand for goods and raising costs for investment.
Transportation equipment orders dropped 0.9 per cent last month after surging by 15.3 per cent in November. Motor vehicle and parts orders gained 0.4 per cent. Civilian aircraft orders rose only 0.4 per cent, despite Boeing reporting on its website that it had received 371 orders for civilian aircraft, a jump from 114 in November. Defence aircraft orders fell 2.9 per cent.
But there were increases in orders for electrical equipment, appliances and components, primary metals, machinery as well as computers and electronic products.
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Non-defence capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose 0.3 per cent after rising by an upwardly revised 1.0 per cent in the prior month. These so-called core capital goods orders were previously reported to have rebounded 0.8 per cent in November.
Core capital goods shipments gained 0.1 per cent. Shipments of non-defense capital goods increased 0.6 per cent.
These shipments feed into the calculation of equipment spending in the gross domestic product report. Business spending on equipment rebounded modestly in the fourth quarter after contracting in the July-September period.
The economy grew at a 3.3 per cent annualised rate last quarter, after expanding at a 4.9 per cent pace in the third quarter. REUTERS
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