Durable goods see gains.(orders rise)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

In one more signal that a slumbering U.S. economy may be turning around, durable goods orders jumped up 2.0 percent in December, the Commerce Department reported, back on track after a steep 6.0 percent drop in November. The increase was sharply higher than the 1.3 percent increase that had been forecast by economists canvassed by Briefing.com.

Excluding highly volatile defense-related items, orders still rose by 1.7 percent, up from a revised reading of 1.5 percent in November. Excluding the similarly volatile transportation sector -- easily skewed by car and ...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.