U.S. Durable Goods Orders Tumble Less Than Expected In July

(RTTNews) - Reflecting a continued plunge by orders for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing a steep drop by new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of July.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders slumped by 2.8 percent in July after plummeting by a revised 9.4 percent in June.

The decrease was not as big as anticipated, however, as economists had expected durable goods orders to tumble by 4.0 percent compared to the 9.3 percent nosedive originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding the sharp drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders jumped by 1.1 percent in July after rising by 0.3 percent in June. Economists had expected ex-transportation orders to inch up by 0.1 percent.