After reporting a sharp increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Monday showing factory orders pulled back by more than expected in the month of April.
The Commerce Department said factory orders fell by 0.8 percent in April after spiking by an upwardly revised 1.7 percent in March.
Economists had expected factory orders to drop by 0.5 percent compared to the 1.6 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.
The bigger than expected pullback was due a steep drop in orders for durable goods, which plunged by 1.6 percent in April following a 2.7 percent spike in March.
Orders for transportation equipment led the way lower, plummeting by 6.0 percent in April after soaring by 6.9 percent in March.
On the other hand, the report said orders for non-durable goods inched up by 0.1 percent in April following a 0.6 percent increase in the previous month.
The Commerce Department also said shipments of manufactured goods were virtually unchanged in April after climbing by 0.7 percent in March.
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