Durable orders in surprise gain

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods rose by a much stronger-than-expected 1.8% in May, Commerce Department data showed Wednesday, providing further evidence that the battered U.S. economy was finding its feet.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast durable goods orders would decline 0.6% last month. May's increase, the third gain in 4 months, followed a revised 1.8% gain in April, previously reported as a 1.7% rise.

New orders excluding transportation advanced 1.1% last month, compared with a forecast for a 0.4% decline, buoyed in part by a 7.7% rise in new machinery orders. This was the largest percentage increase in that category since March 2008, the Commerce Department said.

Orders excluding defense were 1.4% higher, versus a Reuters' poll prediction for a 0.4% drop.

Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending, jumped 4.8% in May, the largest gain since September 2004, when they were up 8.2%. May's sharp rise compared with analyst forecasts for a 0.6% drop, and followed a revised 2.9% fall in April.

In one area of particular weakness, orders for motor vehicles and parts dropped 8.1% in May, the sharpest fall since August.

The Commerce Department said shipments of durable goods fell 2.1% in May, after falling 0.5% the month before.

This was the 10th straight decline in shipments, and the longest streak of consecutive monthly decreases since records began in 1992, the Commerce Department said.