04.05.201510:13:00UTC+00U.S. Factory Orders Surge Higher Amid Rebound In Transportation Orders

Reflecting a notable rebound in orders for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department released a report Monday morning showing a sharp increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the month of March.

The Commerce Department said factory orders surged up by 2.1 percent in March following a revised 0.1 percent decrease in February.

Economists had expected orders to increase by about 2.0 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick that had been reported for the previous month.

The jump in factory orders was largely due to a substantial increase in orders for durable goods, which soared by 4.4 percent in March after falling by 1.4 percent in February.

Orders for transportation equipment showed a significant rebound, skyrocketing by 13.5 percent in March after dropping by 1.4 percent in the previous month.

Excluding the volatile transportation sector, the Commerce Department said factory orders were unchanged in March compared to a 0.1 percent increase in February.

The report also showed that orders for non-durable goods edged down by 0.3 percent in March after climbing by 1.1 percent in February.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said shipments of manufactured goods rose by 0.5 percent following a 0.4 percent increase in the previous month.

Inventories of manufactured goods fell by 0.2 percent in March after coming in virtually unchanged in February.

The report said the inventories-to-shipments ratio subsequently came in at 1.35 in March, unchanged from the previous month.