A jump in aircraft orders drove new orders for durable manufactured goods sharply higher in September, but not enough to offset the previous month’s plunge, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
Orders for durable goods — products expected to last at least three years — rose 9.9 percent from August, well above the average analyst estimate of 8.0 percent.
The monthly gain was the largest since January 2010, and the fourth in the last five months, following a steep 13.1 percent drop in August.
The surge in September orders was driven by a rebound in commercial aircraft orders, whose plunge in the prior month had dragged the headline number lower.
Aircraft orders tend to be especially volatile month-over-month.
In September, orders for transportation equipment had the biggest jump, up 31.7 percent to $69.6 billion.
Excluding transportation, new durable goods orders rose 2.0 percent.
“The details of the report were not encouraging; core capital orders were unchanged, while shipments declined 0.3 percent,” Sweet said.
Jim O’Sullivan at High Frequency Economics noted that the trend still remained downward, given that capital goods orders were down in June-July.
“The net result is significant weakening,” he said.
US durable goods orders rebound
