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otal orders for durable goods in the United States were unchanged in December, but excluding transportation equipment, orders declined 0.7% for the month, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
A decrease in orders for durable goods, which are manufactured goods expected to last at least three years, will likely lower the amount of goods produced by U.S. factories for shipment by truck.
Overall orders held at $181.4 billion after falling a revised 2.3% percent in November. Economists had forecast a 2% rise in orders, Bloomberg reported.
Commerce also said shipments of durable goods rose 0.6% last month to $185.4 billion after rising 0.3% in November. Inventories rose 0.2%, while unfilled orders increased 0.4%.
Economists told Bloomberg companies appear to be taking a break after boosting orders in four of the previous six months because they are wary of letting inventories pile up faster than sales.
Orders for appliances and electronic products dropped 0.5%, Commerce said, while bookings for metals fell 2.8%.
Also, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for future business investment, fell 0.4%, but transportation equipment orders rose 1.4%.
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