U.S. Durable Goods Orders Unexpectedly Come In Flat In August

(RTTNews) - With an increase in orders for transportation equipment offset by decreases in orders for other manufactured goods, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing that new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods came in flat in August.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders were virtually unchanged in August after jumping by a revised 3.6 percent in July.

Economists had expected orders to pull back by about 1.4 percent compared to the 4.4 percent spike that had been reported for the previous month.

The report said orders for transportation equipment rose by 0.6 percent in August after soaring by 8.9 percent in July.

While orders for defense aircraft and parts shot up by 24.2 percent, orders for non-defense aircraft and parts dove by 21.9 percent.

Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders fell by 0.4 percent in August after surging up by 1.1 percent in July. The drop matched economist estimates.

The drop in ex-transportation orders partly reflected a steep decline in orders for electrical equipment, appliances, and components, which plunged by 2.5 percent.

Orders for fabricated metal products, machinery, and computers and electronic products also decreased during the month.

On the other hand, the report said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched indicator of capital spending, increased by 0.6 percent in August after climbing by 0.8 percent in July.

Shipments in the same category, which are used to calculate GDP, fell by 0.4 percent in August following a 0.7 percent drop in the previous month.

Next Wednesday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release a separate report on August factory orders, which include orders for both durable and non-durable goods.