The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Tuesday that the durable goods orders
fell 0.2 percent m-o-m in August, following a downwardly revised 0.1 percent m-o-m
decrease (from flat m-o-m) in July.
Economists had projected a 0.4 percent m-o-m drop.
According to the report, the August decline was primarily due to a 1.1
percent m-o-m plunge in orders for transportation equipment.
Meanwhile, orders for durable goods excluding transportation rose 0.2
percent m-o-m in August, following a downwardly revised 0.2 percent m-o-m advance
(from 0.3 percent m-o-m) in the previous month, being in line with economists’ estimate
of a 0.2 percent m-o-m increase.
Elsewhere, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a
closely watched proxy for business spending plans, jumped 1.3 percent m-o-m
last month after an upwardly revised 0.7 percent advance m-o-m (from 0.4
percent m-o-m) in July. Economists had called for a 0.2 percent m-o-m gain in
core capital goods orders in August.
On a y-o-y basis, durable goods orders climbed 10.9 percent, while
orders, excluding transportation, surged 8.0 percent.