US factory orders rise as expected in January
Updated : 16:01
US factory orders rose strongly in February, led by a spike in those from the transportation sector.
Total orders were 1.2% higher to $470.2bn, according to the Department of Commerce.
That was in-line with the consensus.
Orders for durable manufactured goods rose increased by 2.0% month-on-month to $230.7bn, upwardly revised from an initially estimated gain of 1.8%.
Non-durable goods orders meanwhile advanced 0.4% over the month to $239.5bn.
The inventory-to-shipments ratio was unchanged at the December 2016 level of 1.31, while the orders-to-shipments ratio slipped from 6.59 to 6.57.
"In our view, manufacturing activity is set to improve modestly in the coming year, and today’s data support our view," said Rob Martin and Blerina Uruci at Barclays Research.
"Following the factory orders report for January we revised our Q1 GDP estimate one-tenth higher to 1.9% q/q saar after rounding. Our tracking estimates for equipment investment was unchanged followed this morning’s report, structures investment was a touch higher but inventories rose more than we had anticipated and are the primary force leading to the upward move in the tracker."