New orders for manufactured durable goods, generally big ticket items designed to last at least three years, fell 8.3% in October to $210 billion, the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Nov. 28.
The decline was led by decreases in new orders for non-defense aircraft, down 44.5% from September, and for computers, down 25.6%.
During October, new orders increased for primary metals (up1.1%), machinery (up 1.4%), electrical equipment and appliances (up 5.1%) and cars (up 1.4%). But these were not enough to offset the large declines in airplanes and computers.
Octobers decline in new orders for manufactured durable goods followed an 8.7% increase in September and no change in August.
