--US December durable goods orders +2.2%; ex-transportation -1.4%
--US December transportation equipment orders +14.6%
--Ex-defense, US December durable goods orders +3.4%
--Ex-defense and aircraft, US December capital goods shipments -0.3%
--Ex-defense and aircraft, US December capital goods orders -3.0%
--US December durable goods shipments -0.5%; unfilled orders +1.4%
--US December metals orders -3.5%; industrial machines -5.3%
--US December electronic equipment orders +2.4%
--US December civilian aircraft orders +94.4%
--US November durable goods orders revised to +1.8% from +2.5%
--US durable goods orders +6.5% in 2000, vs +7.3% in 1999
By Andrew Williams, BridgeNews Washington--Jan. 26--A surprise climb in aircraft orders sent December durable goods orders up 2.2% in December, confounding analysts' expectations of a 1.2% decline. However, excluding transportation, December durable goods orders fell 1.4%. Shipments of durable goods fell for the third month in a row, dropping 0.5% in December.
* * * Unfilled orders rose 1.4% in December, following a 0.4% increase the prior month, the Commerce Department said Friday.
Excluding defense, new orders for durable goods were up 3.4% in December.
For November, overall durable goods orders were revised to up 1.8% from the 2.5% gain previously reported.
For 2000 as a whole, durable goods orders rose 6.5%, slowing from 1999's 7.3% increase, a Commerce Department official said. Although erratic, the durable goods data--which measures demand for goods with a life span of three years or more--is widely watched as an indicator of general economic health because purchases for such "big ticket" items are usually sensitive to interest rate shifts. Private estimates in the BridgeNews survey for December durable goods orders ranged from down 2.4% to up 1.2%.
MAIN COMPONENTS:
--Transportation equipment orders shot up 14.6% in December, led by aircraft and parts. The rise in the volatile transportation equipment component after gaining 8.8% as reported in the Jan. 4 factory orders report.
--New orders for civilian aircraft soared 94.4% last month.
--Electronic and other electrical equipment orders continued to perform strongly, rising 2.4%.
--However, industrial machinery and equipment orders dropped 5.3%, that component's fifth consecutive monthly drop.
--Primary metals orders fell 3.5%, their third straight month of decline.
CAPITAL GOODS, ORDERS AND SHIPMENTS:
--Shipments of non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft, a handy indicator of future capital spending by businesses, slipped 0.3% in December, after being reported down 1.6% in the factory orders report. --New orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, said by some to be the "core" orders series, were down 3.0% for the month. They were down 0.4% on the year, another sign of weakness in the manufacturing sector. End Copyright 2001 Bridge Information Systems Inc. All rights reserved.