Rise in US durable goods orders

New orders for long-lasting US manufactured goods rose by a surprise 1.4% in July, led by a big increase in civilian aircraft sales.

The latest monthly durable goods order figure from the Commerce Department came as it also revised June's figure up to 1.3% from 0.8%.

Even when July's 3.1% rise in transportation orders is pulled out, demand for other durables rose 0.7%.

The data shows that some industries are proving resilient to economic slowdown.

Analysts had been expecting a 0.5% drop in durables orders in July excluding transportation.

'Bodes well'

"The surprise was in the ex-transportation segment, people were expecting that to be down," said Bank of America analyst Matthew Moore.

"It doesn't seem like the credit crisis is impacting capital spending"
Bank of America analyst Matthew Moore

While saying the rise could be "driven a bit by price increases," Mr Moore added that it "bodes well for capital spending in the third quarter".

July's 3.1% rise in transportation durable goods orders was fuelled by a 28% rise in commercial aircraft sales.

However, such aircraft orders are very volatile, and July's 28% rise came after a 21.3% fall in June.

The figures also come despite a collapse in car sales, normally the biggest component in consumer-led durable goods.

"It doesn't seem like the credit crisis is impacting capital spending," added Mr Moore.

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