US durable goods orders up in May, jet orders jump

Orders in the US for goods made to last more than three years continued growing at a steady clip last month, helped by strong demand from the transportation sector.

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According to the Department of Commerce, total durable goods orders jumped at a month-on-month pace of 2.3% in May to reach $253.3bn.

Economists had penciled-in an increase of 3.0%.

Nevertheless, the prior month's print was revised up from a drop of -1.3% to -0.8%.

In comparison to the year earlier month, orders had rebounded by 25.7%.

Transportation accounted for the lion's share of May's growth, with orders for motor vehicles and parts up by 2.1% on the month to reach $50.03bn.

Orders for non-defence aircraft and parts meanwhile surged by 27.4% to $11.61bn.

So-called orders for non-defence capital goods excluding aircraft dipped by 0.1% versus April to roughly $75.2bn, undershooting forecasts for an increase of 0.7%.

Nevertheless, April's print for core capital goods orders was marked up from the preliminary estimate of 2.2% to 2.7%.

Commenting on Thursday's figures on durable goods orders, Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "Supply shortages clearly are still a serious constraint in the auto sector.

"Overall, though, manufacturing is in good health. Surveys suggest that activity in the sector is no longer accelerating, but growth is strong."