WASHINGTON — New orders for manufactured durable goods fell $1.4 billion, or 0.7%, to $197.7 billion in October, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
The decline was the second in two months, following a revised 1.5% drop in September.
Excluding transportation, new orders rose 0.7%, and excluding defense, they gained 0.2%.
Economists saw a 1.0% drop in new orders, flat excluding transportation.