WASHINGTON – Durable goods orders unexpectedly declined in December, dropping 2.5% to $191.0 billion, as orders for big-ticket nondefense aircraft sharply decreased, the Commerce Department reported Thursday morning.
But excluding transportation equipment, durable goods orders grew 0.5% to $151.8 billion.
Economists forecast that durable goods would rise 1.5% and that orders excluding transportation would increase 0.8%, according to the median estimates in a Thomson Reuters survey of economists.
The 2.5% headline drop in orders followed a revised 0.1% decrease in November, originally reported as a 1.3% decline.
Transportation equipment dropped a sharp 12.8% to $39.2 billion, due to declines in orders for nondefense aircraft and parts, which decreased $5.0 billion, Commerce said.
