US Durable Goods Orders Unexpectedly Soar In March… Thanks To Boeing

After declining for two straight months, analysts expected US durable goods orders to bounce modestly (+0.7% MoM) in preliminary March data released today. Instead the print soared 3.2% MoM rescuing the YoY from dropping negative for the first time since Aug 2020…

Source: Bloomberg

Core orders (ex-Transports) rose 0.3% MoM (better than the 0.2% drop expected) highlighting that this headline surge was all Boeing – with a 78.4% MoM surge in non-defense aircraft and parts orders

Source: Bloomberg

On the negative side, the value of core capital goods orders, a proxy for investment in equipment that excludes aircraft and military hardware, fell 0.4% last month with a big downward revision to -0.4% MoM in February.

Shipments also tumbled 0.4% MoM.

So, aside from Boeing, this is not pretty at all.