WASHINGTON, July 26 (UPI) -- The Commerce Department said U.S. durable goods orders rose 1.6 percent in June, a gain that exceeded economists' expectations.
The forecast called for a 0.4 percent rise in orders, which rose for the second consecutive month.
New orders in June rose to $221.6 billion, pushed by a $5.1 billion or 8 percent rise in transportation equipment orders, which rose to $68.8 billion.
Excluding transportation, new factory orders for durable goods dropped 1.1 percent. Excluding defense, new orders fell 0.7 percent.
Shipments of manufactured durable goods rose by 0.1 percent to $225.4 billion, rising for the sixth month of the past seven. Shipment of machinery, up four of the past five months, increased by $1 billion or 3.1 percent to $32.9 billion, leading the shipping index.
Inventories of durable goods, up for 29 of the past 30 months, rose by $1.2 billion or 0.3 percent to $366.7 billion, the highest level since 1992, when accounting was switched to the North American Industry Classification System or NAICS.
