Durable goods orders declined 4.5% month-over-month in January (consensus -3.9%) following a downwardly revised 5.1% increase (from 5.6%) in December.
Excluding transportation, durable goods orders rose 0.7% month-over-month (consensus +0.1%) following a downwardly revised 0.4% decline (from -0.1%) in December.
The key takeaway from the report was the strength seen in nondefense capital goods orders, excluding aircraft — a proxy for business spending. Those orders were up 0.8% month-over-month following a 0.3% decline in December. Shipments of these same goods, which factor into GDP forecasts, were up a healthy 1.1% after declining 0.6% in December.