Official figures show that new orders for US manufactured goods fell in January at the fastest rate in three years as demand fell across the board from machinery to aircraft, suggesting that the US economy started the year on a weaker footing than expected.
Durable goods orders dropped 4%, the biggest drop since January 2009, according to Commerce Department data. Economists had expected a smaller fall of 1%.
Durable goods range from toasters to big-ticket items like aircraft which are meant to last three years and more.
Excluding transport, orders fell 3.2%. Economists had expected that figure to be flat. Machinery orders dropped 10.4%, the largest decline since January 2009.
Non-defence capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched signal of future business investment, fell 4.5%, the steepest drop in a year.
A 6.1% drop in bookings for transportation equipment - including a 19% fall in civilian aircraft orders - dragged on the overall reading for durable goods.
Boeing received 150 orders for aircraft during the month, according to the plane maker's website, down from 287 in December. Orders for motor vehicles edged up 0.9%.
Better news on US consumer mood
Separate figures showed that Americans were much more upbeat about the state of the economy this month.
Feelings about the current state of the labour market, the broader economy and expectations about its future outlook all increased, according to the Conference Board.
"Consumer confidence, which had declined last month, posted a sizeable improvement in February. The index is now close to levels last seen a year ago," said Lynn Franco of the Board's research department.
The consumer confidence index stood at 70.8, up a hefty 9.3 points from January. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the US economy, so any bump in confidence is seen as a sign of better times ahead.
But some economists argue that the link between consumer confidence and spending appears to have weakened since the recent recession.
