US durable goods orders surge in July by Rachel Koning
Spurred by aircraft and machinery demand, durable goods orders placed with U.S. factories registered the largest jump in nine months in July. Total durable goods orders rose 8.7 percent last month, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. It was the largest rise since a 9.2 percent gain in October 2001. The increase was much larger than Wall Street economists were predicting. June durable goods orders fell 4.5 percent. A 7.3 percent rise in orders excluding defense is the largest on record, the government said. Orders excluding transportation were up 3.9 percent, the fourth increase in the last five months. Demand for aircraft, which can swing this report in both directions from month to month, led to a more-than-20 percent rise in transportation orders. But the report showed strength outside of this sector as well. A key measure within the report, non-defense capital goods soared a record 13.5 percent last month and excluding aircraft, this subset of the data rose a sizeable 8.1 percent - the biggest jump since January 1997.
