2014.04.2409:45:00UTC+00U.S. Durable Goods Orders Jump More Than Expected In March

After reporting a bigger than expected increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday that once again showed stronger than expected durable goods orders growth in the month of March.

The report said durable goods orders surged up by 2.6 percent in March after jumping by a revised 2.1 percent in February.

Economists had expected orders to climb by 2.0 percent compared to the 2.2 percent increase that had been reported for the previous month.

Excluding an increase in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders still increased by 2.0 percent in March compared to a 0.1 percent uptick in February.

The increase in ex-transportation orders far exceeded economist estimates for 0.9 percent growth.