By Mucahithan Avcioglu
ISTANBUL (AA) - US new durable goods orders dropped 2.8% in July compared to the previous month, extending the decline trend seen in the previous month, according to data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau.
New orders for manufactured durable goods, which measure the change in the value of new purchase orders placed with manufacturers, fell $8.8 billion to $302.8 billion.
The figure followed a downwardly revised 9.4% drop in June, and was below the forecast of a 3.8% fall for last month.
"Transportation equipment, also down three of the last four months, drove the decrease, $10.9 billion or 9.7% to $101.7 billion," the bureau said in a statement.
Orders significantly decreased in manufacturing (4% to $214.2 billion), and nondefense aircraft and parts (32.7% to $19.1 billion).
Excluding defense orders, new orders dropped 2.5% month-on-month in July.
On the other hand, excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.1% on a monthly basis.