Durable Goods Orders Down 1.3% in November

WASHINGTON — Durable goods orders fell more than economists expected in November, dropping 1.3% to post their second straight decline, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Durable goods excluding transportation increased 2.4% — the largest gain since March. Economists forecast that durable goods would fall 0.4% and that orders excluding transportation would increase 1.6%, according to the median estimates in a Thomson Reuters survey of economists.

New orders for transportation equipment fell 11.9%.

“Durable goods orders fell in November on weakness in transportation equipment, but with moderate strength elsewhere,” said Steven Wood, chief economist at Insight Economics. “Despite this month’s decline, hard-good orders have risen by 20.7% since [troughing] in March 2009. However, this is still 21.8% below its December 2007 peak level.”

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