Consumers bought more big-ticket items such as cars, appliances and office equipment last month, the Commerce Department reported today.
Orders for manufactured durable goods increased 3.4% to $165.6 billion, the first increase after sixth consecutive months of declines. In January, those orders fell 3.7%.
Excluding transportation, new orders rose 3.9% and excluding defense, new orders increased 1.7%.
Recommended For You
The department said orders for transportation equipment increased 2%, following an 11.9% decline in January.
Shipments of manufactured durable goods fell for the seventh consecutive month. They declined .5%, compared to a 5.2% drop in January.
Inventories of manufactured durable goods-which have been down for two consecutive months-increased .9% to $336.8 billion.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
