New orders for U.S. manufactured goods spiked by more than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.
The report showed factory orders surged by 2.2 percent in March following a revised 0.1 percent uptick in February.
Economists had expected factory orders to jump by 1.1 percent compared to the 0.5 percent drop originally reported for the previous month.
The sharp increase in factory orders came as orders for non-durable goods soared by 3.2 percent, while orders for durable goods shot up by 1.1 percent.
The report also showed shipments of manufactured goods spiked by 2.3 percent in March after jumping by 1.1 percent in February.
Inventories of manufactured goods also shot up by 1.3 percent in March following a 0.9 percent increase in February.
With orders jumping by inventories, the inventories-to-shipments ratio dropped to 1.43 in March from 1.45 in February.
