New orders for key U.S.-made capital goods increased more than expected in June and shipments surged, pointing to solid growth in business spending on equipment in the second quarter.
Expectations of robust economic growth in the April-June period were, however, tempered somewhat by other data on Thursday showing a widening in the goods trade deficit last month and no change in retail and wholesale inventories.
The Commerce Department said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose 0.6 percent last month after an upwardly revised 0.7 percent increase in May.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the so-called core capital goods orders rising 0.4 percent last month after a previously reported 0.3 percent gain in May. Core capital goods orders increased 6.8 percent on a year-on-year basis.
