--US March factory orders +1.8%; ex-transportation -1.2% --Excluding defense, US March factory orders +0.7% --US March durable goods orders revised to +3.5%, from +3.0% --US March non-durable goods orders -0.1% vs February's -0.2% --US March factory inventories -0.6%; shipments +0.4% --US March unfilled orders +0.7% --US March's inventory/shipments ratio 1.34 vs February's 1.35 By Shihoko Goto Washington, May 2 (BridgeNews) - In their first increase this year, factory orders jumped 1.8% in March, topping economists' expectations for a 1.5% gain. The largest gains were in transportation equipment orders, which soared 24.8%. But excluding transportation, factory orders fell 1.2%. Factory inventories shrank 0.6%. * * * The 1.8% gain in manufacturers' orders was the first since December and the largest since November, when they increased 1.9%. March's non-durable goods orders, being reported for the first time Tuesday, were down 0.1% after a revised 0.2% decline in February, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. March's orders for durable goods were revised to up 3.5%, from the 3.0% increase reported in the April 25 preliminary report on durable goods (see story .4726). WHAT WAS EXPECTED: In a BridgeNews survey, private analysts forecast March factory orders would be reported increasing between 0.2% and 2.0%. FACTORY INVENTORIES, SHIPMENTS: --Manufacturers' inventories continued to shrink, falling 0.6%, after a revised 0.4% decline in February. --Factory shipments rose 0.4%, reversing a revised 0.4% decline in February. --The inventory-to-shipments ratio inched down to 1.34 in March from February's revised 1.35. --Unfilled orders were up 0.7% in March, compared with a revised 0.2% dip the prior month. CAPITAL GOODS SHIPMENTS: Shipments of non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft rose a revised 1.1% in March after being reported up 1.6% in the durable goods report. That's a rebound from February's 4.2% drop. These shipments are an important indicator of trends in capital spending and the contribution of producers' durable equipment purchases to GDP growth. ORDERS DETAILS: In other revisions to the March durables data, Commerce said transportation equipment orders climbed 24.8%, previously reported as up 21.4%. In particular, new orders for shipbuilding and tanks shot up 936%. Orders for electronic and other electric equipment was revised to down 5.5%; they were previously reported down 5.3%. Orders for industrial machinery were revised to down 2.8%; they previously were reported down 0.7%.