Durable Goods Orders Rise 0.8% in September

ew orders for durable goods rose 0.8% to $176.3 billion in September following a revised decline of 0.1% the month before, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Orders have increased in four of the past five months.

An increase in orders for durable goods, which are manufactured goods expected to last at least three years, will increase the amount of goods produced by U.S. factories for shipment by truck.

Commerce originally said August's orders declined 1.1%. Analysts were expecting orders for last month to increase 1.4%, according to Reuters.

Durable shipments, a barometer of current demand, rose by 2.5% in September, a turnaround from the 2.6% drop posted in August.

Total orders were weighed down by a 26.7% drop in demand for defense capital goods and by a 3.9% decline in non-defense aircraft and parts, Commerce said.

However, orders for non-defense capital goods rose 3.4% and those orders excluding aircraft, which many economists look to as a sign of business investment plans, climbed 3.9%.