This morning the Commerce Department's Bureau of the Census issued its Advance Report On Durable Goods Manufacturers' Shipments And Orders for March 1996.

Durable goods (cars, refrigerators, TVs, airplanes, etc.) are defined to be items that have a usable life of at least three years. The time to produce durable items is typically longer than for other goods. So, economy watchers look to durable goods statistics for indications of economic activity in the months to come.

New orders for manufactured durable goods in March increased $2.3 billion or 1.4 percent to $167.6 billion. This followed a 2.3 percent February decline, and is the first increase since December. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, new orders decreased $1.3 billion or 1.0 percent to $126.0 billion. Transportation equipment orders rose for the first month since December, increasing $3.6 billion or 9.4 percent to $41.6 billion as a large increase in aircraft and parts more than offset a decline in motor vehicles and parts. This followed a 12.1 percent February decrease.

For the more-stable, year-over-year period, orders rose by 3.07 percent.

Shipments of durable goods in March decreased $1.0 billion or 0.6 percent to $163.2 billion, following a 1.3 percent February increase. This was the second decrease in the last three months.

Year over year, shipments rose by 1.0 percent.

Unfilled orders for durable goods in March increased $4.4 billion or 1.0 percent to $456.6 billion. This followed a 0.2 percent February increase and is the seventh consecutive monthly increase. At present, the backlog of work to be completed equals 2.72 times the amount of new orders.

From March 1995 to March 1996, the level of unfilled orders grew by 4.33 percent.

Byline: Lafferty (MF Merlin)