US aircraft sales forged higher in March, helping drive up orders for manufactured goods, but the pace of growth slowed from previous months, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
Total orders for durable goods recorded their third consecutive monthly increase, but excluding the volatile transportation sector, where aircraft sales can cause big monthly swings, orders fell for the first time in six months, slipping 0.2 percent.
Total orders rose just 0.7 percent last month to $238.7 billion, a sharp slowdown from February’s 2.3 percent increase. Analysts had been expecting a gain of 1.2 percent in March.
President Donald Trump has spotlighted US manufacturing as key to his agenda to revive industries that once employed far larger shares of the American workforce, although the sector was already showing signs of recovery along with the economy before he took office.
So far this year, total durable orders are up 3.4 percent over the first three months of 2016.
After soaring in January and February this year, sales of civilian aircraft managed to add another seven percent in March, rising to $14.4 billion. Sales of defense aircraft and parts also rose 26.1 percent, marking a recovery from February’s 11.7 percent decline.
Capital goods orders rose 2.5 percent for the month, slowing from the average 4.7 percent growth in the first two months of the year.
Auto sales fell for the second consecutive month, losing 0.8 percent, while computers and related products fell 3.8 percent.
Fabricated metal products also gave up 0.8 percent but non-defense orders added 0.1 percent, the fourth consecutive increase.
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