-- New orders for US factory goods rose by 1.5% in March, well above expectations for a 0.6% gain in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:35 am ET and following a revised 0.3% increase in February.
Excluding a 0.8% rebound in transportation orders, new orders would have been up 1.6%, above a 1.3% gain expected and the same as in February.
Durable goods new orders were unrevised from the advance estimate of a 0.8% gain and followed a 1.2% decline in February.
Nondurable goods new orders increased by 2.1% after a 1.9% increase in the previous month.
Factory shipments increased by 1.4%, while unfilled orders increased by 0.1%.
Factory inventories increased by 0.6% and, when combined with already-published advance estimates for retail and wholesale inventories, shows business inventories on pace for a 0.9% gain in the month.