By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Orders for big-ticket U.S. goods jumped 3.6% in May, mainly because of more demand for commercial jets and military equipment. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected orders to rise 3.8%. Aircraft orders surged 51% in a strong month for Boeing, but auto bookings fell 1.2%, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Stripping out the volatile transportation sector, orders a much smaller 0.7% last month. Orders for core capital goods, a key barometer of private-sector business investment, advanced a modest 1.1% but posted the third straight gain. Shipments of core capital goods, a category used to calculate quarterly economic growth, climbed 1.7% in May to reverse most of April's 2.0% decline. Orders for April, meanwhile, were revised up a tick to a 3.6% increase. Durable-goods orders have risen 2.1% in the first five months of 2013 compared to the same span in 2012, a mild increase that reflects slow going in the U.S. manufacturing sector.
