Orders for US-made durable goods fell 0.9% in January as demand for new civilian aircraft waned, the US Commerce Department said today.
The fall in durable goods orders - big ticket items expected to last a couple of years - surprised Wall Street which had expected orders to remain unchanged or register a slight increase. The drop also reversed an increase in orders in December.
The decline was even more pronounced given that December orders were revised higher to 1.4% from an initial estimate of a 1.1% gain.
Excluding a 5.3% drop in orders for transportation, new orders rose 0.8% last month.
