Aircraft demand spurs record U.S. durable goods orders gain

Orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods posted their biggest gain on record in July on strong international demand for aircraft, but the underlying trend remained consistent with a steady pace of domestic economic growth.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday durable goods orders, items ranging from toasters to aircraft that are meant to last three years or more, jumped 22.6 percent last month after an upwardly revised 2.7 percent increase in June.

July's increase was the largest on record and far outpaced economists' forecasts for a 7.5 percent advance. Orders were previously reported to have gained 0.7 percent in June.

Transportation orders rose 74.2 percent, the biggest increase ever, boosted by a surge in bookings for civilian aircraft, which soared 318 percent, the largest increase since January 2011.

U.S. financial markets were little moved by the data.

Boeing (BA.N) reported on its website that it had received 324 aircraft orders in July, triple the number booked in June.

Many of the orders, including 150 planes by Emirates EMIRA.UL, the Dubai-based airline, were for expensive models, some still under development. It will take at least 10 years for the resulting increase in production to filter through to gross domestic product.

Orders for autos increased 10.2 percent, a sign of firming manufacturing activity, after declining 1.3 percent in June. Excluding the volatile transportation category, durable goods orders fell 0.8 percent after rising 3.0 percent in June.

Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, slipped 0.5 percent last month.

The decline, however, followed an upwardly revised 5.4 percent advance in June. So-called core capital goods orders remained consistent with expectations of steady economic growth in the third quarter.

Data ranging from employment to manufacturing suggest growth in the July-September quarter is currently running at around a 3.0 percent annual pace. The economy expanded at a 4.0 percent rate in the second quarter.

Core capital goods orders were previously reported to have increased 3.3 percent in June.

Core capital goods shipments increased 1.5 percent in July. Shipments of core capital goods are used to calculate equipment spending in the government's GDP measurement.

Other details of the report favor manufacturing in the months ahead.

Unfilled orders for core capital goods increased 1.1 percent last month after rising 1.7 percent in June, showing a steady pipeline of work that will keep the nation's factories busy for a while.

Durable goods inventories rose 0.5 percent in July, matching the gain in the prior month, suggesting inventory accumulation could add to third-quarter growth after helping to boost output in the second quarter.

(Editing by Paul Simao)