New orders for manufactured durable goods declined by 9.3% in June.<\/p>\n
Orders dropped by $32.1 billion to end the month at $311.8 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau<\/a> said in a Friday (July 25) press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n June\u2019s drop in orders for durable goods followed a 16.5% increase in May and marked the second decline in three months, according to the release.<\/p>\n Transportation equipment drove the decrease, as that segment was down 22.4% or $32.6 billion, ending the month at $113.0 billion, the release said.<\/p>\n Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.2%, per the release. Excluding defense, they decreased by9.4%.<\/p>\n Reuters reported<\/a> Friday that \u201ccore capital goods orders,\u201d or non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, dropped by 0.7% in June after rising 2.0% in May. The category is considered to be a proxy for business spending plans, the report said.<\/p>\n June\u2019s drop in core capital goods orders was unexpected, as economists had forecast a 0.2% increase, according to the report.<\/p>\n Economists surveyed by Reuters said that business spending on core capital goods surged in the first quarter before moderating in the second quarter, and they attributed this in part to companies pausing their capital expenditures due to uncertainty around trade policy.<\/p>\n S&P Global<\/a> said Thursday (July 24) that new orders placed at factories<\/a> fell in July, marking the first such decline this year. The firm said this was the first deterioration of factory business conditions it had seen since December.<\/p>\n