US durable goods orders jump 3.2% in March, much higher than estimates

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US durable goods orders jumped 3.2% in March, coming much higher than market estimates, according to official data released Wednesday.

New orders for manufactured durable goods increased $8.6 billion to $276.4 billion last month, the US Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said in a report.

The market estimate for the figure was to show a gain of 0.7% in March.

The figure for February was revised from a decline of 1% to a decrease of 1.2%, which marked the third decline in the last four months.

"Excluding defense, new orders increased 3.5 percent. Transportation equipment, also up following two consecutive monthly decreases, led the increase, $8.1 billion or 9.1 percent to $97.4 billion," the report said.