The numbers: Orders for durable or long-lasting goods sank 6.1% in January, but the decline was exaggerated by a brief lull in orders for Boeing passenger planes.
Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 5% decline.
New orders fell by a mild 0.3% last month if planes and cars are stripped out. Orders minus transportation give a more accurate view of how well businesses are performing.
A key measure of business investment, meanwhile, was basically flat. So-called core orders edged up 0.1% in January.
Big picture: The industrial side of the economy has been showing signs of recovery after a long stretch of weakness.
Customer spending is fairly robust and the prospect of lower interest rates later in the year could boost demand and make it easier for companies to borrow and invest.
Key details: Orders for commercial planes nosedived 59% in January.
Boeing
BA,
garnered a big flush of contracts in December, and as expected, saw new deals dry up in January. Its business tends to be highly cyclical.
Carmakers for their part, saw a slight 0.4% decline in orders. Sales tend to be strong in the final month of the year and soften at the start of a new one.
Omitting those two dominant industries, orders minus transportation showed a slight decrease.
Shipments of core manufactured goods, meanwhile, rose 0.8% in January after barely any gain in the prior month. The figure omits defense and transportation and is a proxy for broader business performance.
The category also helps to determine business investment in gross domestic product, the official scorecard for the U.S. economy. As such first-quarter GDP forecasts could get a boost.
Looking ahead: โThe strengthening in underlying capital goods orders paints a more optimistic picture for business equipment investment going into the first quarter, although there will be a small drag from the disruption to production at Boeing,โ said Olivia Cross, North American economist at Capital Economics.
Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
and S&P 500
SPX,
fell slightly in Tuesday trades.
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