2020.03.2512:39:00UTC+00U.S. Durable Goods Orders Jump 1.2% In February

A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed an unexpected increase in new orders for U.S. durable goods in the month of February.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders jumped by 1.2 percent in February after a revised uptick 0.1 percent in January.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to decrease by about 0.8 percent compared to the 0.2 percent dip that had been reported for the previous month.

The unexpected increase in durable goods orders was largely due to a substantial rebounded in orders for transportation equipment, which spiked by 4.6 percent in February after falling by 0.9 percent in January.

However, excluding the jump in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders fell by 0.6 percent in February after climbing by 0.6 percent in January. Economists had expected a 0.4 percent drop.