WASHINGTON, July 27 (Reuters) – New orders for key U.S.-manufactured capital goods increased strongly in June while shipments surged, pointing to a fairly solid pace of economic growth in the second quarter.
Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending, rose 0.9% last month after an upwardly revised 1.9% increase in May, the
the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Monday.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast these so-called core capital goods orders advancing 0.8% after a previously reported 1.4% jump in May. Shipments of core capital goods, which go into the calculation of the business spending on equipment component in the gross domestic product report, surged 1.9% last month after gaining 0.2% in May.
The government is scheduled to publish its advance estimate of second-quarter GDP growth on Thursday. A Reuters survey of economists estimated the economy grew at a 2.1% annualized rate last quarter, which would match the January-March quarter’s pace. Businesses are ramping up investment in artificial intelligence, fueling demand for information processing equipment and other related products, and supporting manufacturing and the overall economy.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
