Washington, DC, April 27--Orders for durable goods in March were off 2.8% in March, the largest drop since September 2002, according to the Commerce Department.
This is the third consecutive month of declines in the durable goods index.
Economists has forecast an increase of 0.3%.
Orders for durables in February were revised to reflect decline of 0.2%, it was originally reported to have increased 0.3%.
Shipments fell 0.2%, with declines across several categories.
Inventories were up 0.4% in March.
Transportation represented the biggest drop in orders, down 7.8%. Orders for civilian airplanes fell 22.7%, while orders for military aircraft dropped 35%.
Orders for motor vehicles were off 2.4%. It was the third straight month that auto and truck orders fell.
All orders excluding transportation fell 1%, the second straight decline.
Orders for capital equipment fell 4.7% after falling 2.5% in February. It was the largest decline since November 2003.
Orders for computers and primary metals were the only categories that rose in March.
New orders for machinery fell 7.6%, while shipments fell 2.8%.
