New orders for US manufactured durable goods fell in May, pulled lower by slumping aircraft orders, the Commerce Department said today.
US orders fell 1.8% in May, widely exceeding analysts' average estimate of an 0.5% decline.
The decrease, the third in the last four months, followed a downwardly revised 1.5% April decline, previously reported as a 1% drop.
US transportation equipment orders also fell for the third time in four months, down by 6.4%. That included a 35.3% plunge in orders for civilian aircraft and a 6.3% decline in defence aircraft.
Orders for motor vehicles were flat.
Excluding the volatile transportation sector, durable goods orders were up 0.5%, slightly below expectations.
Analysts pointed to an encouraging 0.4% rise in core capital orders - those for non-defence capital goods excluding aircraft - as a bright spot in the report for the US economy.
Core orders had fallen 0.3% in April and risen 1.6% in March.
