Factory orders strengthen, home sales contracts up
Recovery picking up as factory orders strengthen and home sales contracts rise in March
Martin Crutsinger and Alan Zibel, AP Business Writers, On Tuesday May 4, 2010, 12:27 pm EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A surprisingly busy month for U.S. factories and a surge in home buying are the latest signs that the economic recovery is picking up.
Orders to U.S. factories rose 1.3 percent in March, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That was much better than the 0.1 percent decline analysts had expected. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders gained 3.1 percent, the biggest increase since August 2005.
Widespread activity in many industries offset a big drop in commercial aircraft. The increase offers further evidence that U.S. manufacturers are helping drive the recovery.
A separate report showed that more people signed contracts on previously owned homes in March than was expected. The jump was in large part the result of tax incentives that have propelled the housing market this spring.
The National Association of Realtors said its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes rose 5.3 percent from a month earlier to a reading of 102.9. It was the highest level since October and a 21 percent increase from the same month a year earlier. The index provides an early measurement of sales activity because there is usually a one- to two- month lag between a sales contract and a completed deal.
The two reports offered more evidence that the recovery is strengthening. But Wall Street appeared to be more focused on the growing debt crisis in Europe. Stocks slid at the opening bell and the Dow Jones industrial average was down more than 270 points in midday trading, or 2.4 percent.
At the moment, manufacturing is the leading star of the economic rebound and economists are predicting that will continue for the rest of the year, helping to offset weakness in other areas. Manufacturers are benefiting not only from the rebound in the United States but also rising demand for U.S. exports as the global economy recovers at a faster rate than had been expected.
"I expect that will continue for quite some time," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "I am looking for manufacturers to experience strong growth for the next several years."
For March, demand for durable goods, items expected to last at least three years, fell 0.6 percent, a better showing than a preliminary report on April 23 which had put the decline in durable goods at 1.3 percent.
The overall durable goods number was heavily influenced by a big swing in commercial aircraft, a volatile category, which plunged 66.9 percent in March after having posted huge gains in the two previous months.
Total transportation orders were down 12.3 percent. That was the biggest drop since June of last year as a 2.7 percent rise in demand for motor vehicles and parts only partially offset the plunge in aircraft.
But excluding transportation, factory orders posted a 3.1 percent rise, the best showing since a 3.6 percent increase in August 2005.
The strength in other industries was widespread, Orders for primary metals, including iron and steel, increased 4.7 percent while demand for machinery was up 8.6 percent, led by a 28.1 percent surge in construction machinery.
Orders for computers and other electronics products increased 22.7 percent.
