New orders for long-lasting US-made manufactured goods fell by 5.3 percent in January, the biggest drop in five months and more than analysts expected, and a key gauge of business spending also declined, a Commerce Department report showed on Wednesday.
Non-defence capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a proxy for business investment, declined 1.4 percent, which was somewhat less than the 2.0 percent decrease Wall Street analysts were expecting.
For overall durable goods orders, analysts polled by Reuters forecast a 4.0 percent decline. It was the biggest monthly decrease since a matching decline last August. Orders in the transportation category, which includes civilian and military aircraft, fell 13.4 percent, the largest drop since October 2006.