By Josh Mitchell
WASHINGTON--Demand for big-ticket manufactured goods rebounded
last month, suggesting factories are poised to ramp up production
after a winter lull.
Orders for durable goods--products like refrigerators and cars
designed to last at least three years--rose a seasonally adjusted
2.8% in January from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said
Thursday. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders
climbed 0.3%.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected
overall orders to rise 0.6%.
Figures for durable goods are volatile and typically revised,
but the broader trend suggests factories are facing a modest pickup
in demand from customers. Compared with a year earlier, overall
orders increased 1.6% in January.
Thursday's report showed companies stepped up investment
spending after retreating late last year. A measure of business
spending on equipment and software--orders for nondefense capital
goods excluding aircraft--climbed 0.6% last month from December.
That category had declined throughout the fall.
Weak business investment contributed to the economy's modest
2.6% annualized growth in the fourth quarter. Nonresidential fixed
investment rose at a 1.9% annual rate in October through December,
down from the third quarter's 8.9% pace.
Overall durable orders for January may have been affected by
aircraft demand, a category that tends to swing wildly from month
to month, obscuring broader demand in the economy. Major aircraft
maker Boeing Co. reported a sharp decline in orders in January
compared with December.
Other reports point to weaker growth for the factory sector this
year, as sluggish economic growth globally and a strengthening
dollar weigh on U.S. manufacturers. A key purchasing manager's
index fell to 53.5 in January from 55.1 in December, suggesting the
sector continues to grow but at a slower pace from late last year,
according to the Institute for Supply Management.
U.S. industrial production rose modestly in January, with
manufacturing output up a slight 0.2%, the Federal Reserve said
earlier this month.
Write to Josh Mitchell at joshua.mitchell@wsj.com
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