U.S. Factory Orders Jump Much More Than Expected In March

(RTTNews) - New orders for U.S. manufactured goods increased by much more than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Monday.

The Commerce Department said factory orders jumped by 1.5 percent in March after rising by an upwardly revised 0.3 percent in February.

Economists had expected factory orders to climb by 0.5 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.

The bigger than expected increase in factory orders partly reflected a surge in orders for non-durable goods, which shot up by 2.1 percent.

Orders for durable goods also grew by 0.8 percent, unchanged from the previously reported increase, with orders for computers and electronic products leading the way higher.

The report also said shipments of manufactured goods jumped by 1.4 percent in March after surging by 1.7 percent in February.

Inventories of manufactured goods also climbed by 0.6 percent in March following a 0.1 percent uptick in the previous month.

With shipments increasing by much more than inventories, the inventories-to-shipments ratio edged down to 1.51 in March from 1.52 in February.