US durable goods orders rise 0.1% in May, up 4th-straight month

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US durable goods orders rose 0.1% in May, up for the fourth straight month, according to a report released Thursday by the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau.

New orders for manufactured durable goods rose $0.3 billion to $283.1 billion, it said in a statement.

The market estimate was for the figure to show a monthly decrease of 0.5%.

The figure for April, meanwhile, was revised down to a gain of 0.2% from an increase of 0.7%, or down to $282.8 billion from $284.1 billion.

Excluding transportation, new orders in May decreased by 0.1%, the Census Bureau said, adding that new orders were down 0.2% when excluding defense.

"Transportation equipment, up three of the last four months, drove the increase, $0.5 billion or 0.6 percent to $95.4 billion," the statement said.