New orders for long-lasting US-made goods rose 0.6 per cent last month despite a sharp plunge in demand for new aircraft, according to a government report.
A separate report released today showed a smaller-than-expected rise in initial claims for unemployment aid, which kept them at a level economists view as consistent with further labour-market gains.
The rise in orders for durable goods, items made to last three years or more, came in close to the 0.5 gain expected on Wall Street, but details in the Commerce Department report showed more strength than most economists had anticipated.
Excluding transportation, orders rose 2.1 per cent, the first gain since September and well ahead of forecasts for a 1 per cent gain. Non-defence orders rose 1.2 per cent, also ahead of Wall Street forecasts.
In addition, the department offered an upwardly revised reading on orders for November. The report also offered a good signal on business spending as orders for non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft, rose 1.8 per cent.
Economists track that figure closely as a proxy for business investment plans. US government bond prices fell in the wake of the reports, but the value of the dollar was little changed. For the year as a whole, durable goods orders advanced a healthy 10.9 per cent, the biggest rise in 10 years.