-Hank Paulson, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary under President George W. Bush
US durable goods, a bellwether of business spending, soared considerably more than expected in March. Orders for durable manufacturing goods surged 4% in March, the biggest increase since July 2014, compared with a 0.6% rise expected by economists and following an upwardly revised reading of minus 1.1%, the Commerce Department reported. The jump was driven by a big rise in demand for commercial aircraft, with orders for civilian aircrafts spiking 30.6% after a 2.2% drop in February. Orders for motor vehicles rose 5.4%, and the overall transportation category expanded 13.5%, the biggest gain in eight months. However, outside of the transportation category, orders were down for a sixth straight month. Excluding transportation, core orders to US factories for long-lasting manufactured goods fell 0.2%. Shipments of non-military capital goods, which will impact the first quarter GDP estimates, declined 0.4% in March after falling 0.1% in February. Economists believe that overall economic growth slowed to between 1% and 1.5% in the January-March quarter. Yet, a rebound to growth of around 3% for the rest of this year is expected.
Manufacturers are struggling with the effects of a dramatic increase in the value of the US Dollar, which undermines exports by making US-produced goods more expensive overseas. A stronger Dollar also makes imports cheaper and more competitive in the US.
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