Today’s Economic Shakers

February U.S. durable goods orders rise above expectations...

A report issued by the Commerce Department this morning showed a larger than expected increase in durable goods orders, a positive sign for the nation’s economy.

The government report for February showed that orders for durable goods had grown by 1.7%, which was an increase above January’s numbers.

The bump in durable goods, defined by the Commerce Department as those goods that are meant to last a minimum of three years, was higher than expected as a survey by Bloomberg showed analysts had forecast a consensus growth of 1.4%.

February’s gain in orders for durable goods was the 6th consecutive month that the category has seen an increase, a clear indication that the demand for products that make up a large sector of the economy is continuing to trend upward.

The government report showed that auto sales, a category that has helped power the economy over the last couple of years, was unchanged last month, with 17.5 million cars and light trucks purchased.

However, the related category of orders for motor vehicles and parts saw a decline of 0.8%, indicating a backlog among auto dealerships.

The Commerce Department report did reveal an area of weakness in the economy, as future business investment, as indicated by the category of non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, dropped by 0.1%.

That category, which includes durable goods such as computers and communications gear, had gained 0.1% in January.

Also included in the report was the data for military capital equipment, which fell by 8.3% compared to the previous month.

That category could see a substantial bump in the near future should the current administration’s push for a big increase in the Pentagon’s budget get realized.

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Latest flash PMI estimates show eurozone growth hits highest levels since 2011...

The latest flash PMI data for the eurozone surpassed analyst expectations as the region showed a surprising pattern of continued economic growth.

Friday morning’s release of the Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) data by IHS Markit, an international economic analysis firm, showed that the March score, a projection for the month, was 56.7 for the eurozone.

That compared favorably to analyst expectations, which had pegged the score at 56.

The positive numbers revealed a growth trend for the region that, based on the PMI, was the highest in the last 6 years.

Markit’s PMI numbers are based on a scorecard of 0-100, with growth indicated by any number above 50.

The main drivers of the PMI numbers were Germany and France, the two economic powerhouses for the single-currency region.

The specific PMI numbers for the two countries showed that Germany’s manufacturing beat expectations, coming in at 58.3, while the French manufacturing sector also beat forecasts, landing at 53.4.

The data also showed that employment for the eurozone was at the highest levels in over 9 years, a trend that must be sustained for the region to continue to break out of its cycle of recessions that it has been in since 2008.