Durable Goods Orders Fall 4.9% in July

.S. orders for durable goods fell 4.9% in July, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

Orders of goods made to last at least three years decreased to $204.7 billion, Commerce said. Analysts had expected a 1.5% decline in July, Bloomberg reported.

Trucking is a major beneficiary of durable goods manufacturing, hauling both components and finished goods.

Excluding transportation orders, July orders fell 3.2%, Commerce said. Economists had predicted a decline of 1.5% to a gain of 1.7%, Bloomberg reported.

Businesses spent heavily late last year before a 2003 tax provision expired in December, Bloomberg said, with companies pausing in the first quarter of this year before stepping up their orders.

Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for future business investment, fell 3.7% following a 4.8% rise in June.

Machinery orders fell 6.2% in July, the biggest decline since April 2004, after rising 10.3% in June.

Orders for computers and electronic products fell 5.9% after jumping 7.2% the previous month, Commerce said.

Durable goods inventories rose 0.6% after falling 0.4%. Unfilled orders, a gauge of future production, rose 1% following a 2.8% increase.