22.11.201722:28:00UTC+00U.S. Core Capital Goods Orders Declined in October

New orders for key U.S.-made capital goods suddenly declined in October following three consecutive of gains. However, a sustained rise in shipments indicated a strong business environment.

The economy's prospects were bolstered by a separate data, which showed a decline in the number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits.

Strong business investment and tightening labor market conditions will likely keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates next month.

According to the Commerce Department, orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, dropped 0.5 percent in October. It was the largest decline since September 2016 and came after an upwardly revised 2.1 percent rise in September.

Orders of these so-called core capital goods rose at a 14.5 percent annualized clip in the three months prior to October, the strongest since June 2013.

Shipments of core capital goods gained 0.4 percent in October after accelerating by 1.2 percent in September, pushing the annualized three-month clip to 13.1 percent.

Core capital goods shipments have been rising since February, partly spurred by expectations that U.S. President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress will push through massive corporate tax reductions.