New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods rebounded in the month of March, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.
The report showed durable goods orders climbed by 0.8 percent in March after tumbling by a revised 1.7 percent in February.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to jump by 1.0 percent compared to the 2.2 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.
Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders surged by 1.1 percent in March after falling by 0.5 percent in February. Ex-transportation orders were expected to increase by 0.6 percent.
The jump in ex-transportation orders reflected significant increases in orders for electrical equipment, appliances and components, computers and electronic products and primary metals.
The report also showed orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key indicator of business spending, increased by 1.0 percent in March after falling by 0.3 percent in February.
Meanwhile, shipments in the same category, which is the source data for equipment investment in GDP, edged up by 0.2 percent in March, matching the uptick seen in the previous month.
"Despite mounting downside risks, a sturdy demand backdrop and continued low inventory levels suggest durable goods orders will continue to progress at a steady clip in the months ahead," said Mahir Rasheed, U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.
He added, "China's escalating Covid lockdowns will renew supply stress in the near term, but we don't anticipate a noticeable retrenchment in business investment as firms continue working through backlogs and keep in lockstep with still-strong consumption."
