U.S. durable goods orders unexpectedly decline in February

The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Wednesday that the durable goods orders fell 1.1 percent m-o-m in February, following a revised 3.5 percent m-o-m climb in January (originally a 3.4 percent m-o-m surge). This represented the first decline in durable goods orders since April 2020.

Economists had forecast a 0.8 percent m-o-m advance.

According to the report, a 1.6 percent m-o-m drop in orders for transportation equipment was the major contributor to the February decrease. Meanwhile, orders for durable goods excluding transportation fell 0.9 percent m-o-m in February, following a revised 1.6 percent m-o-m advance in January (originally a 1.4 percent m-o-m gain), also missing economists’ forecast of 0.6 percent m-o-m rise.

Elsewhere, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, decreased 0.8 percent m-o-m in February after a revised 0.6 percent growth m-o-m in January. Economists had called for a 0.5 percent m-o-m advance in core capital goods orders in February.

Shipments of these core capital goods declined 1.0 percent m-o-m in February after a revised 1.9 percent m-o-m jump in the prior month.