Durable goods orders rise on steady business equipment demand

Orders placed with U.S. factories for durable goods rose in April, highlighting firm and sustained demand for equipment and merchandise.

Bookings for durable goods — items meant to last at least three years — increased 0.4% in April after a downwardly revised 0.6% advance a month earlier, Commerce Department figures showed Wednesday. The figures aren't adjusted for inflation.

The value of core capital goods orders, a proxy for investment in equipment that excludes aircraft and military hardware, climbed 0.3% after a 1.1% gain a month earlier.

The median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 0.6% increase in orders for all durable goods and a 0.5% gain in the core figure.

The figures suggest companies are adhering to capital expenditures plans as they seek to enhance productivity to ease the burden of high inflation and a tight labor market. It's less clear, however, whether businesses later this year will reconsider the current pace of investment in the face of higher interest rates and an anticipated cooling of economic activity.