US durable goods orders rise for second month in March

New orders for US manufactured durable goods such as cars, airplanes and computers rose in March, the second straight gain of the year.

Durable goods orders rose by 2.6 percent to $234.8 billion, after a 2.2 percent rise in February, the Commerce Department said.

The March increase came in well above the consensus estimate of 2.0 percent, thanks to commercial aircraft, communications equipment, primary metals and computers.

Transportation equipment, also up two consecutive months, led the increase, leaping 4.0 percent to $74.1 billion. Commercial airplane orders jumped 8.6 percent.

Excluding transportation, which tends to be volatile month-over-month, so-called "core" durable goods orders increased 2.0 percent, solidly beating analysts' expectations of a 0.5 percent rise.

Gains were broadbased, with only orders for defense aircraft declining.

The upbeat report, particularly, the robust core gain, "puts orders back onto their pre-winter track," said Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Year-over-year, durable goods orders in March were up 3.5 percent and ex-transportation were up 2.3 percent.