Partly reflecting another jump in orders for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing a substantial increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of December.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders spiked by 2.9 percent in December after surging up by an upwardly revised 1.7 percent in November.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to climb by 0.8 percent compared to the 1.3 percent jump that had been reported for the previous month.
The stronger than expected growth was primarily due to another notable increase in orders for transportation equipment, which shot up by 7.4 percent in December after jumping by 4.6 percent in November.
Orders for defense aircraft and parts soared by 55.3 percent during the month, while orders for non-defense aircraft and parts surged up by 15.9 percent.
Excluding the increase in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose by 0.6 percent in December after edging up by a revised 0.3 percent in November.
Ex-transportation orders had been expected to climb by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.1 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.
Notable increases in orders for primary metals and fabricated metal products were partly offset by a decrease in orders for electrical equipment, appliances, and components.
Meanwhile, the report said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, an indicator of business spending, dipped by 0.3 percent in December after edging up by 0.2 percent in November.
The Commerce Department also said shipments of durable goods rose by 0.6 percent in December after climbing by 1.3 percent in the previous month.
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