Durable goods orders in the United States remained unchanged in January at $321.2 billion, the US Census Bureau reported on Thursday. The figure marks an improvement from December's revised slump of 0.9%. Transportation equipment fell 0.9% to reach $113.3 billion. The new orders, excluding transportation, jumped 0.4%, and excluding defense, rose 0.5%. Shipments of manufactured durable goods advanced 0.6%, reaching $314.2 billion. Unfilled orders of the durable goods added 0.8%, landing at $1,540.2 billion. (full story)