Washington--New orders for US manufactured durable goods fell in May, pulled lower by slumping aircraft orders, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
Orders fell 1.8 percent in May, widely exceeding analysts' average estimate of an 0.5 percent decline.
The decrease, the third in the last four months, followed a downwardly revised 1.5 percent April decline, previously reported as a 1.0 percent drop.
Transportation equipment orders also fell for the third time in four months, down by 6.4 percent. That included a 35.3 percent plunge in orders for civilian aircraft and a 6.3 percent decline in defense aircraft. Orders for motor vehicles were flat.
Excluding the volatile transportation sector, durable goods orders were up 0.5 percent, slightly below expectations.
Analysts pointed to an encouraging 0.4 percent rise in core capital orders -- those for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft -- as a bright spot in the report for the US economy. Core orders had fallen 0.3 percent in April and risen 1.6 percent in March.
"It does now seem that the downdraft which began last fall as oil companies slashed their capex (capital expenditures) is now over. The underlying trend in capex ex-oil is rising, so we now expect to see better numbers over the second half," said Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics.
AFP
