The US Census Bureau said on Friday that orders for durable goods in the US fell by 1%, or $2.6 billion, in February to $268.4 billion. This estimate was less than the market consensus for a growth of 0.6% and follows January’s loss of 5% (updated from -4.5%).
“Excluding transportation, new orders were virtually unchanged,” the publication further read. “Excluding defense, new orders decreased 0.5 percent. Transportation equipment, also down three of the last four months, drove the decrease, $2.6 billion or 2.8 percent to $89.4 billion.”