The Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods surged by much more than expected in March amid a substantial rebound in orders for transportation equipment.
The report said durable goods orders spiked by 3.2 percent in March after tumbling by a revised 1.2 percent in February.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to climb by 0.8 percent compared to the 1.0 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month.
Excluding the jump in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose by 0.3 percent in March after falling by 0.3 percent in February. Ex-transportation orders were expected to dip by 0.2 percent.
