Durable Goods

The bad economic news keeps piling up. On Thursday, three milestones showing the depths of the downturn were reached: The number of workers filing unemployment claims hit an all-time high, sales of new homes fell to an all-time low, and production of durable goods dropped for the fifth straight month, boosting inventories to their highest level since at least 1992. And it's not over yet. Today, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its initial estimate of the U.S.

Wall Street managed to finish an erratic session with a moderate gain Wednesday as investors found some comfort in upbeat data on orders for durable goods, though rising oil prices tempered any optimism. The Commerce Department said orders for items including aircraft, machinery, cars, refrigerators and computers slipped 0.5% last month, a smaller decline than Wall Street had expected. Excluding transportation, orders rose 2.5% -- the sharpest increase in nine months.

Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods posted an unexpectedly strong showing in September -- the largest gain in three months -- on a surge in demand for airplanes and autos, government data showed Wednesday. The Commerce Department reported that orders for durable goods rose by 0.8%, surprising economists who had expected a decline. Orders had fallen by 5.5% in August, which was the biggest setback in nearly two years. The September increase was the largest gain since a 1.

Surprisingly strong gains in sales of new homes and orders for costly manufactured goods in December signaled more vigor in some soft sectors but dashed hopes for early interest-rate cuts. The two Commerce Department reports Friday cemented expectations that the Federal Reserve's policymaking Federal Open Market Committee would keep rates on hold when it meets Tuesday and Wednesday. New-home sales rose 4.8% in December to an annual pace of 1.12 million units.

New orders for U.S.-made durable goods were surprisingly strong in March, the government reported Wednesday, but softer-than-forecast sales of new homes took the glow off a pickup in investment spending. Separately, a Federal Reserve report released Wednesday showed that most parts of the country experienced moderate economic growth in the early spring despite sluggishness in the manufacturing sector largely because of the housing slump.

As a rule, consumer products makers are a secretive lot, reluctant to share information that could give potential competitors an edge. "Generally, in the [consumer packaged goods] industry, a lot of companies tend to view everyone as the competition," said David Newman, a vice president at PepsiCo Inc. But a rare alliance among five of the largest U.S.

New orders for long-lasting U.S.-made manufactured goods tumbled sharply in May, the government said Wednesday, raising doubts about the strength of the factory sector and business expansion plans. Orders for durable goods, items meant to last at least three years, slid a more-than-expected 2.8% after a 1.1% rise in April, a Commerce Department report showed.

New orders for long-lasting U.S.-made manufactured goods dropped at the sharpest rate in seven months during August, according to a government report that added to signs that growth was slowing in the third quarter. Durable goods orders overall plummeted 4.9% in August, Commerce Department data showed, with declines in nearly every major category. The fall was steeper than the 3.1% decline Wall Street economists had forecast, but followed an upwardly revised 6.

The U.S. economic slowdown spread beyond housing as companies ordered fewer durable goods than forecast, even as consumer confidence improved. Demand for cars, aircraft and other items made to last several years increased 0.1% in November, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The previous month's drop was revised to 0.4%, greater than estimated. Excluding transportation, orders fell 0.7%.

Demand rose for a broad range of U.S. durable goods last month, government data indicated Thursday, boosting expectations for strong economic growth and increasing bets that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at least two more times. New claims for unemployment benefits also rose slightly last week to 283,000 but were below forecasts, and a more reliable gauge of employment trends hit a 5 1/2 -year low, suggesting further improvement in a tightening labor market.