Economic Analysis: Durable Goods Orders, Jobless Claims, CNNfn.

Publication: Finance Wire

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2003 FDCH e-media

Original Source: CNN MONEY MORNING

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNNfn ANCHOR, CNN MONEY MORNING: Now to help us sort through this wave of economic reports, figure out what it means for the average investor and the economy, I`m joined now by Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh.

Good morning, Stuart.

STUART HOFFMAN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES: Good morning, Kathleen.

HAYS: Well, let`s start with the durable goods orders, up 3.3 percent. If I`m not mistaken, maybe a bit stronger than people were looking for. What do you make of that?

HOFFMAN: Actually a good bit stronger. And this is the second month in a row we`ve seen a big increase in durable goods orders. People tend to dig through it and look for something called non-defense capital goods orders. That`s a big name for business investment. That was up around 2.5 percent, similar to an increase in the month before.

So we`ve had two strong months in a row. This shows that business investment is definitely coming on stream. Businesses have been sounding better, their mentality is improved and now they`re translating that into action.

HAYS: In fact, I`m...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.