WASHINGTON: New orders for US manufactured goods surged in March, bouncing back from a February slump mainly due to defense orders, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.
Factory orders rose 1.1 percent following a 1.9 percent decline in February. The March gain was twice as much as analysts expected.
Stripping out volatile transportation, factory orders were up 0.8 percent month-over-month.
Excluding defense, orders rose a modest 0.2 percent.
Transportation orders advanced 2.8 percent due to large increases for ships and defense aircraft. Orders for motor vehicles fell 0.9 percent after a 2.6 percent gain in February.
Manufacturing has been a weak spot in the US economy amid sluggish economic growth and the strong dollar's negative impact on exports.
March factory orders were down 2.0 percent from a year ago.
"Wednesday's report showed once again that US factories are struggling to find their footing, despite the better than expected topline number," said Ilir Hysa of Moody's Analytics.
"With factory output posting nearly no growth for about a year now, the sentiment among manufacturers has suffered."
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