Orders for a key metric of business investment jumped by 1.3 percent in April and computer orders rose 1.6 percent, data from the Department of Commerce showed Monday.
Orders for nondefense capital goods, which are considered a proxy for business investment, rose by slightly less than the preliminary estimate of 1.4 percent.
Overall orders rose 0.4 percent, half of what economists had forecast. Durable-goods orders rose 1.1 percent, unrevised from the preliminary estimate last week. Non-durable goods orders fell 0.1 percent.
Orders for transportation equipment jumped 3.7 percent. This included a 32.7 percent increase in orders for defense aircraft. Orders for autos and parts rose 0.5 percent. Excluding transportation, orders were down 0.2 percent.
Orders for machinery were up one percent. Construction machinery orders rose 1.6 percent, the latest evidence of strength in the building sector. Orders for mining, oil field, and gas field machinery rose 10.6 percent. Orders for turbines, generators, and other power transmission equipment moved up 1.6 percent.