Washington (awp/afp) – Durable goods orders contracted again in the United States in February, for the second month in a row, a decline led by transport equipment, according to data released Friday by the United States Department. Trade.
The total amount of orders amounted to 268.4 billion dollars, or 1% less than in January, a month for which the data was also revised slightly downwards (-5.0% against – 4.5% initially announced).
That disappointed analysts, who were expecting a 1.6% rebound, according to Briefing.com’s consensus.
Transport equipment “pulled down”, falling 2.8%, the ministry said in its press release.
“Excluding transport, new orders remained virtually unchanged. Excluding defence, they fell by 0.5%”, it is specified.
This new decline comes as the US central bank (Fed) wants economic activity to slow down in order to bring down inflation. On Wednesday, it opted for a moderate increase in its key rate, by a quarter of a point, in order to further increase the cost of credit for households and businesses.
This modest rise in rates took place in the context of a banking crisis. This should “lead to a tightening of credit conditions for households and businesses and thus weigh on demand, on the labor market and on inflation”, explained Jerome Powell, the head of the Fed.
“You can see that as the equivalent of a rate hike,” he added.
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