WASHINGTON: New orders for manufactured durable goods slumped for a second consecutive month in December, the US Commerce Department reported Thursday.
Orders for goods that typically last three years or more dropped a hefty 5.1 percent in December following a revised 0.5 percent fall in November.
Excluding transportation orders, which tend to be volatile month-on-month, new orders fell 1.2 percent. In November they were down 0.5 percent.
The November numbers were previously reported as flat.
The slump in the data was worse than analysts expected, with overall December new orders estimated as being down 0.5 percent and ex-transportation off 0.1 percent.
It underlined the long-running weakness in the industry, as manufacturers continue to be hit by a strong dollar that hampers exports and slowing US and global economies.
The Commerce Department is scheduled to report its first estimate of 2015 fourth-quarter economic growth on Friday.
Analysts on average expect that growth in the October-December period slowed to an annual rate of 0.9 percent from 2.0 percent in the third quarter.
Comments
Comments are closed.