(RTTNews) - New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods were virtually unchanged in the month of August, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders came in flat in August after soaring by 9.9 percent in July. Economists had expected durable goods orders to tumble by 2.6 percent.
The report said orders for transportation equipment fell by 0.8 percent in August after soaring by 34.6 percent in July.
Excluding the decrease in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.5 percent in August after edging down by 0.1 percent in July. Ex-transportation orders were expected to inch up by 0.1 percent.
The increase by ex-transportation orders partly reflected a 1.9 percent jump by orders for electrical equipment, appliances, and components.
The Commerce Department said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key indicator of business spending, rose by 0.2 percent in August after slipping by 0.2 percent in July.
Shipments in the same category, which is the source data for equipment investment in GDP, inched up by 0.1 percent in August after falling by 0.4 percent in July.
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