A report released by the Commerce Department on Friday unexpectedly showed a continued surge in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of April.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders jumped by 1.1 percent in April after spiking by 3.3 percent in March. The continued increase surprised economists, who had expected durable goods orders to slump by 1.0 percent.
Orders for transportation equipment led the way higher once again, shooting up by 3.7 percent in April after soaring by 9.9 percent in March.
Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders dipped by 0.2 percent in April after rising by 0.3 percent in March. Economists had expected ex-transportation orders to edge down by 0.1 percent.
