Durable Goods Orders Rise 1.9% in May

Durable goods orders increased an estimated 1.9% in the month of May from April, the Department of Commerce reported on Friday.

That's above the 1.6% increase economists had been expecting. The strength was due in large part to increased orders for civilian aircraft, as Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) reported a large bump in orders.

April's orders for durable goods was revised down to a 2.7% decrease, which is now the biggest decline since last October, after being initially reported as a decrease of 2.3% from the month prior.

The monthly durable goods report is highly volatile, because of the fluctuations in demand for extremely expensive items like civilian aircraft.

Orders for such civilian aircraft soared 36.5% in May, more than making up for the 29% drop recorded in April.

Shipments of durable goods rose 0.3% in the month, while inventories of durables increased 1.2%.

Excluding the volatile 5.8% increase in transportation equipment, durable orders rose 0.6% in May, and dropped just 0.4% in April.

Orders for nondefense capital equipment goods excluding aircraft, a measure considered the best gauge of capital spending by businesses, grew 1.6% in May, after declining 0.8% in April.

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