WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Orders for durable goods such as computers, aircraft and heavy machinery rose a solid 0.7% in June , offering a sign of a general upswing in business spending.
The increase in bookings reported by the Commerce Department on Friday for big-ticket items last month was the fourth increase in the last five months, with gains in most major categories.
The rise in orders surpassed Wall Street estimates. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected orders to rise 0.2%. May’s orders were downwardly revised to show a 1% decline.
The durables figures are yet one more data point suggesting a healthy pick-up in growth is in store for the second quarter.
Orders for core capital goods climbed 1.4%. That category is viewed as a good proxy for U.S. business investment, one of the keys to faster economic growth.
The U.S. is forecast to rebound 3.2% in the April-to-June period, up from the unexpectedly sharp 2.9% drop in the first quarter, according to the latest MarketWatch consensus.
But the increase in second-quarter GDP may not be robust as hoped. Shipments of core capital goods, a figure used to calculate quarterly economic growth, declined 1.0% in June.
Higher bookings for machinery and capital goods led the way in June.
Auto orders fell 2.1% in the month while orders for civilian aircraft rose 8.2%.
Stripping out the volatile transportation sector, durable-goods orders rose 0.8%.
Orders excluding defense rose 0.7% after a 0.2% gain in May.
Bookings for primary metals, which are used in a wide variety of finished industrial goods, increased 0.9%.