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New orders for durable goods in the U.S. increased more than expected last month ( and ). Shipments were virtually unchanged.

What’s going on: Orders for manufactured durable goods rose 2.6% in March, to $283.4 billion.

• The rise followed a downwardly revised 0.7% increase in February.
• Shipments of durable goods slipped slightly, down $0.1 billion, but remained essentially flat at $282.4 billion following a 1.2% increase in February.

The details: Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.2%, and excluding defense, new orders rose 2.3%.

• Transportation equipment drove the slight decrease in shipments of durable goods.

Inventories and unfilled orders: Stocks of manufactured durable goods were nearly unchanged at $527.9 billion, a decrease of less than $0.1 billion from February. This follows seven consecutive monthly increases.

• Unfilled orders for manufactured durable goods rose 0.4% in March to $1,397.2 billion, following a decrease in February.