New orders for US manufactured durable goods fell 2.5 percent in June after two months of increases, amid weakness in defense and aircraft purchases, government data showed Wednesday.
Orders dropped 4.1 billion dollars from May to 158.6 billion dollars, the Commerce Department reported.
The slump was steeper than the 0.6 percent decline expected, and followed a 1.3 percent rise in orders in May and a 1.4 percent rise in April.
Excluding defense, where orders have declined in nine of the past 11 months, durable goods orders fell 0.7 percent from May.
Orders for manufactured durable goods excluding transportation rose 1.1 percent.
Orders for durable goods excluding defense and aviation, which generally signal companies' investment in their means of production, climbed 1.4 percent in June, after leaping 4.3 percent in May.
Shipments of durable goods slipped 0.2 percent in June, after a steeper 2.6 percent decline in the preceding month.
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