WASHINGTON: New orders for key U.S.-made capital goods fell more than expected in September and shipments also declined, a sign that business investment remains soft amid the fallout from the U.S.-China trade war but other data on Thursday showed the spat has yet to have much effect on the overall jobs market.
"The data are volatile, but through the volatility, trends have slowed significantly," said Jim O'Sullivan, an economist at High Frequency Economics. U.S. Treasury prices rose following the report while U.S. stocks were little changed. U.S. manufacturing output fell more than expected in September, Fed data showed last week while business investment fell at a 1.0per cent annualized rate last quarter, the biggest drop since the fourth quarter of 2015, the government reported last month.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims edging higher to 215,000 in the latest week. The Labor Department said no states had claims estimated last week.