Durable Goods Orders Up 1.4%

Washington, DC, July 26, 2007—Orders for durable goods rose by 1.4% in June, according to a report from the Commerce Department. Orders for durable goods excluding transportation equipment however dropped for a second month.

Excluding transportation durable goods fell 0.5 %, after a revised 0.2% decrease in May.

Economists had forecast an increase in durable goods orders of 1.9%. Excluding transportation equipment, orders were forecast to rise 0.6 %.

Orders for commercial aircraft jumped 29 % in June after dropping 21% a month earlier. Demand for autos fell 1.4%. Boeing registered 132 orders in June, up from 92 in May, according to company statistics released earlier this month. It shipped 39 planes, compared with 40 a month earlier.

Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a proxy for future business investment, fell 0.7%, after decreasing 1.5% in May. Shipments of those items, used on calculating gross domestic product, declined 0.4 % after rising 0.7 % a month earlier.

Unfilled orders for such goods rose 0.7 %.

Inventories of all durable goods rose 0.2%, after increasing 0.1% in May. Manufacturers had a 1.48-month supply of goods on hand at the current sales pace in June, compared with 1.46 months a month earlier.