WASHINGTON – New orders of durable goods fell 1.1% in May, a decline that matched economists’ estimates and was driven mostly by a decline in transportation equipment orders, the Commerce Department reported today.
The figure followed a revised 3.0% gain in April, originally reported as a 2.9% jump.
Excluding transportation, May durable goods orders rose 0.9%, following a revised 0.8% decline in April that Commerce originally reported as a 1.0% drop.
New orders for transportation equipment fell 6.9% after surging a revised 15.4% the previous month, originally reported as a 16.1% rise.
New nondefense aircraft orders, a volatile category, dropped 29.6%, leading to the transportation orders decline. The category had spiked 215.7% the previous month.
Economists expected durable goods would fall 1.1% in May and goods excluding transportation would increase 1.0%, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Orders for nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft, rose 2.1% following a 2.7% gain in April. Orders for overall nondefense capital goods fell 2.8%, the largest decline since March’s 6.7% drop.
Total unfilled orders for May increased 0.2%.
