Post by unlawflcombatnt on Mar 24, 2011 13:05:46 GMT -6
from MarketWatch
Durable-goods orders drop 0.9% in February
Demand for machinery, big defense items declines
By Jeffry Bartash
"Orders for U.S. durable goods in February posted the biggest drop in 4 months, largely because of lower sales of heavy machinery and defense-related products, government data showed Thursday.
The Commerce Department said new orders for U.S.-made products designed to last 3 years or more fell 0.9%....
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected orders to rise by 1.5% overall and by an even stronger 2.5% minus transportation.
Orders have now declined in 4 of the past 5 months, suggesting some hesitancy on the part of businesses to continue to expand until they see further strengthening of the U.S. economy.
“February’s U.S. durable goods orders report is unequivocally bad,” said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist of Capital Economics.
The biggest decline for February occurred in orders for machinery, which fell 4.2% to $26.6 billion. Also, orders for major defense items sank 24.8% to $8.3 billion.
Another category of orders closely watched by economists, known as core capital goods, dropped 1.3% on the heels of a 6.0% decline in January. That category excludes defense and transportation and gives a better indication of longer-term trends in the private sector....
The durable-good reports also appeared to be discounted by investors. U.S. stock markets opened higher in Thursday trading, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW:DJIA) extending Wednesday’s gains....
Shipments of core capital equipment goods, which the government uses to help calculate gross domestic product, rose 0.8% in February.
Inventories of durable goods climbed 0.9% last month, the 14th consecutive increase."
Durable-goods orders drop 0.9% in February
Demand for machinery, big defense items declines
By Jeffry Bartash
"Orders for U.S. durable goods in February posted the biggest drop in 4 months, largely because of lower sales of heavy machinery and defense-related products, government data showed Thursday.
The Commerce Department said new orders for U.S.-made products designed to last 3 years or more fell 0.9%....
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected orders to rise by 1.5% overall and by an even stronger 2.5% minus transportation.
Orders have now declined in 4 of the past 5 months, suggesting some hesitancy on the part of businesses to continue to expand until they see further strengthening of the U.S. economy.
“February’s U.S. durable goods orders report is unequivocally bad,” said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist of Capital Economics.
The biggest decline for February occurred in orders for machinery, which fell 4.2% to $26.6 billion. Also, orders for major defense items sank 24.8% to $8.3 billion.
Another category of orders closely watched by economists, known as core capital goods, dropped 1.3% on the heels of a 6.0% decline in January. That category excludes defense and transportation and gives a better indication of longer-term trends in the private sector....
The durable-good reports also appeared to be discounted by investors. U.S. stock markets opened higher in Thursday trading, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW:DJIA) extending Wednesday’s gains....
Shipments of core capital equipment goods, which the government uses to help calculate gross domestic product, rose 0.8% in February.
Inventories of durable goods climbed 0.9% last month, the 14th consecutive increase."