Orders for US durable goods rose in October, led by defence spending

Orders for durable goods increased by 0.4% month-on-month in October to reach $243.8bn, according to the US Department of Commerce.

The consensus estimate was for a drop of 0.6% on the month.

On top of that, the previous month’s estimate was revised higher, to show a drop of 0.9% month-on-month, instead of the 1.1% initially estimated.

Versus the year-ago period durable goods orders grew by 7.5%.

Excluding the transportation sector durable goods orders fell by 0.9% on the month, coming in well below the 0.4% rise which analysts had anticipated.

If defence is excluded then orders would have dropped 0.6% to $230.2bn. Orders for defence aircraft and parts shot higher by 45.3% to $3.81bn.

Core orders for capital goods, which excludes both the defence and civil aerospace sectors, retreated by 1.3% in comparison to the previous month.