Durable goods orders slid in October

Economists had forecast a rise of 0.5 percent. Instead, new orders dropped by $1 billion to $166.2 billion, the report said.

The decline follows September's 2 percent rise in new orders for goods expected to last more than three years.

Excluding transportation goods -- planes, trains and automobiles -- new orders dropped 1.3 percent. Excluding defense spending, new orders rose 0.4 percent after rising 0.5 percent in September.

Shipments of durable goods dropped 0.2 percent or $300 million to $173.8 billion in October. Unfilled orders, down for 13 consecutive months, dropped 0.4 percent or $3 billion to $730.4 billion.

Durable goods inventories, down for 10 months, declined slightly to $304.2 billion, Commerce said.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.