another revision
Factory orders post unexpected rise in March
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The Commerce Department Tuesday said new orders at U.S. factories advanced a modest 0.1% in March versus Wall Street forecasts for a 1.2% drop and a revised 0.5% decline in February.
Orders were helped by a solid rebound in demand for nondurable goods and an upward revision in the durable goods orders for March. The data was slightly more optimistic than the recent spate of weaker indications on U.S. economic growth, which has slowed amid soaring oil prices.
The small gain pushed total factory orders to $378.2 billion in March / The Commerce Department said it was the biggest rise since December and compared with a revised 0.5% decline in factory orders in February. That had initially been reported as a 0.2% gain.
Economists had expected orders to fall 1.2% following weaker readouts from purchasing manager surveys amid soaring oil prices, which have dented household budgets and expectations for future income.
Analysts believe the current "soft patch," the term Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan used to describe a similar slowdown last year, will be only temporary. But they caution that something unexpected such as further sharp increases in energy prices could make that forecast too optimistic.