Reflecting a continued spike in orders for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing an unexpected surge in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of May.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders shot up by 1.7 percent in May after jumping by an upwardly revised 1.2 percent in April.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to slump by 1.0 percent compared to the 1.1 percent advance that had been reported for the previous month.
Excluding the surge in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.6 percent in May after falling by a revised 0.6 percent in April.
Ex-transportation orders were expected to edge down by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.2 percent dip that had been reported for the previous month.
