Credit, Economy and Financial News from TruckingFactor.com

Durable Goods Orders Slip in March

The Commerce Department reported that orders for durable goods fell 0.8% in March, as a gain in orders for commercial and military aircraft was offset by weakness elsewhere. The overall decline was not as bad as what analysts expected, raising some hopes that the prolonged slides in manufacturing and housing are slowly coming to an end. March's decline followed a 2.1% increase in orders in February, the first gain after six straight monthly declines. Despite the guarded optimism, analysts cautioned that there will not be a big rebound in manufacturing anytime soon given all the problems facing the economy. But, things do appear to be stabilizing. Demand for transportation products fell 1.4% in March, reflecting weak orders for motor vehicles, which fell 1.7%. Demand also dropped for primary metals such as steel, and for orders of machinery and computers. This was offset somewhat by increases of 4.4% in demand for commercial aircraft and 4.7% in orders for military aircraft.

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Date Last Updated: 04/30/2009