Reflecting a continued decrease in orders for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing an unexpected drop in new orders for durable goods in the month of December.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders fell by 0.4 percent in December after tumbling by a revised 4.8 percent in November.
The dip came as a surprise to economists, who had expected durable goods orders to jump by 2.6 percent following the 4.5 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month.
The unexpected drop in durable goods orders came as orders for transportation equipment tumbled by 2.2 percent in December after plunging by 14.7 percent in November.
Orders for defense aircraft and parts plummeted by 63.9 percent, although the decrease was partly offset by a 42.4 spike in orders for commercial aircraft and parts.
Excluding the drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose by 0.5 percent in December after jumping by 1.0 percent in November. The increase matched economist estimates.
Orders for computers and electronic products showed a significant increase, while more modest growth was visible in orders for machinery and electrical equipment, appliances and components.
The Commerce Department also said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched indicator of business spending, climbed by 0.8 percent in December after surging up by 1.5 percent in November.
Shipments in the same category, which are used to calculate GDP, increased by 1.0 percent in December after rising by 0.6 percent in the previous month.
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