New orders for products meant to last at least three years increased by 0.8% in March.
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Orders for long-lasting goods such as appliances, computers and cars rose in March, resuming gains after a sharp drop in demand at the end of the winter.
New orders for products meant to last at least three years increased by 0.8% to a seasonally adjusted $275 billion in March following a 1.7% drop in February, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The increase was driven by orders for autos, computers and other electronics and marked the fifth increase over the last six months.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast an increase of 0.8%.
First-time orders in February for all manufacturing industries were revised up to $272.7 billion from the prior month’s estimate.
Excluding defense, orders of durable goods rose 1.2%.
Strong consumer demand and limited inventories have boosted manufacturing demand, but supply-chain bottlenecks have continued to constrain production and drive up prices. The war in Ukraine and Western sanctions on Russia as well as a surge of Covid-19 cases in China, which has prompted lockdowns of manufacturing hubs like Shanghai, could all aggravate the supply-chain disruptions.
New orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, so-called core capital-goods, a closely watched proxy for business investment, rose by 1% to $80.8 billion in March compared with the previous month.
Write to David Harrison at [email protected]
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