With aircraft demand pulling back sharply following recent strength, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods tumbled by more than expected in the month of July.<\/p>\n
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders plunged by 5.2 percent in July after surging by a revised 4.4 percent in June.<\/p>\n
Economists had expected durable goods orders to slump by 4.0 percent compared to the 4.6 percent jump that had been reported for the previous month.<\/p>\n
The sharp pullback in durable goods orders came as orders for transportation equipment plummeted by 14.3 percent in July after spiking by 11.9 percent in June.<\/p>\n
Orders for non-defense aircraft and parts led the way lower, showing a 43.6 percent nosedive in July after soaring by 71.1 percent in June.<\/p>\n
Excluding the pullback in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose by 0.5 percent in July after inching up by 0.2 percent in June. Ex-transportation orders were expected to edge up by 0.2 percent.<\/p>\n
The increase in ex-transportation orders partly reflected strong growth in orders for machinery and electrical equipment, appliances and components.<\/p>\n