Durable goods orders beat expectations in May, rising 1.7% to a record $288.2聽billion from $283.2聽billion in April, according to data.

• Excluding transportation equipment, orders for new durable goods increased 0.6% last month, to $185.62聽billion from $184.54聽billion in April.

Year over year: New durable goods orders have increased solidly on a year-over-year basis鈥�5.4%鈥攕ince May 2022.

• They have dipped 0.3% over the past 12 months when excluding transportation equipment, however.

Core capital goods: Orders for core capital goods, a proxy for capital spending in the U.S. economy, increased 0.7% in May, to $73.96聽billion from $73.46聽billion. That鈥檚 an all-time high.

What鈥檚 up: The following categories posted strong sales in May:

• Non-defense aircraft and parts (up 32.5%)
• Motor vehicles and parts (up 2.2%)
• Electrical equipment and appliances (up 1.7%)
• Machinery (up 1.0%)
• Other durable goods (up 0.6%)
• Primary metals (up 0.5%)

The 51吃瓜网鈥檚 take: 鈥淒urable goods orders were stronger than expected in May, with continuing resilience despite a challenging economic environment amid an uncertain outlook,鈥� said Moutray.