"The economy is in a very good place right now ahead of the fiscal restraint"
- Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.
The number of new factory orders in the world's largest economy improved significantly in February, posting the strongest gain in 5 months, boosted by aircraft, even as the business spending indicator dropped, pointing to a mixed picture of the nation's manufacturing sector. According to the Commerce Department, orders for manufactured goods climbed 3.0%, recovering after a 1.0% contraction in the prior month. However, the reading came below analysts' forecasts, which called for a 3.1% gain. Demand for commercial aircraft, jumped 95.1% in February, after a 23.8% fall a month earlier, while car sales are set for their best year since 2007. At the same time, a measure of business confidence and spending plans tumbled 3.2% instead of the previously reported 2.7% drop. Tuesday's data and information from other reports have shown little sign that higher taxes, huge budget cuts have weighed on economic activity.
"The economy is in a very good place right now ahead of the fiscal restraint," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York.
"Hopefully this is an anomaly. This gives a pause in the recent bullish data we have been seeing," Craig Dismuke, chief economic strategist at Vining Sparks in Memphis, Tennessee.
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