New orders for US-made durable goods climbed on strong civilian aircraft sales in September, but core orders gained only modestly, a government report said today likely to confirm the inflation-wary Federal Reserve's projection of modest economic growth.
Orders for durable goods - items meant to last three or more years - leaped a much greater-than-expected 7.8 per cent in September on a rush of civilian aircraft orders, a Commerce Department report showed.
But orders rose a smaller-than-forecast 0.1 percent when volatile transportation orders were stripped from the total.
US Treasury debt prices rose and the dollar slipped against the euro and the yen after the report, which markets took to show that the economy is growing at a slower pace than earlier this year.
"Outside of the volatile aircraft orders, manufacturing is still subdued and that's consistent with an economy that's growing moderately," said Gary Thayer, chief economist at AG Edwards and Sons in St Louis.
Financial markets were waiting for further clues about slowing growth in the US economy from a government report on new home sales also due today.
A Commerce Department report on economic growth in the third quarter of 2006 is due tomorrow.