U.S. Durable Goods Orders Unexpectedly Flat In January

(RTTNews) - The Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly came in flat in the month of January.

The report said durable goods orders were virtually unchanged in January after falling by a revised 0.9 percent in December.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 1.4 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department said orders for transportation equipment slid by 0.9 percent in January after plunging by 4.6 percent in December.

Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.4 percent in January after jumping by 1.3 percent in December. Ex-transportation orders were expected to grow by 0.5 percent.

The increase in ex-transportation orders partly reflected growth in orders for computer and electronic products, primary metals and fabricated metal products.

Meanwhile, the report said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key indicator of business spending, came in unchanged in January after climbing by 0.8 percent in December.

Shipments in the same category, which is the source data for equipment investment in GDP, edged down by 0.1 percent in January after jumping by 1.0 percent in December.