US durable goods orders fall but recovery "far from fragile"

Continuing the recent trend, Friday's US economic data were a little on the weak side. Bloomberg reports:

Demand for U.S. durable goods unexpectedly fell in August and sales of new homes rose less than forecast, restraining the pace of the economic recovery.

Orders for goods made to last several years dropped 2.4 percent, the biggest decline since January, the Commerce Department said today in Washington...

Bookings for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for future business investment, dropped 0.4 percent after a 1.3 percent decrease the prior month that was more than four times as large as previously estimated...

Sales of new homes climbed 0.7 percent to a 429,000 annual pace last month, a separate Commerce Department report showed, as builders cut prices at a record pace to compete with the foreclosures that are flooding the market for previously owned houses. Sales were forecast to rise to a 440,000 pace, according to a Bloomberg survey.

At least consumer sentiment continued its improving trend.

The Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment increased to 73.5 in September, more than forecast, from 65.7 in August. A preliminary September reading was 70.2.

Notwithstanding the weaker dataflow recently, the ECRI is confident that the economic recovery is not fragile. From Reuters:

The Economic Cycle Research Institute, a New York-based independent forecasting group, said its Weekly Leading Index rose to a 60-week high of 127.8 in the week to Sept. 18 from an downwardly revised 126.1 the previous week, which was originally reported as 126.2...

The index's yearly growth rate rose to a fresh record high of 24.3 percent from last week's high of 22.9 percent...

"With WLI growth climbing to a fresh record high, the economic recovery is far from fragile," [ECRI Managing Director Lakshman] Achuthan said on Friday.