Washington, DC, June 24--Orders for new durable goods fell for the second straight month in May, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
Orders for durables - manufactured items designed to last more than three years- fell 1.6 percent in May to $189.1 billion.
The decline was unexpected. Wall Street economists had forecast a 1.4 percent gain in May durable goods orders.
The decline in orders follows a revised 2.6 percent decline in April, compared with the previous estimate of a 3.2 percent decline.
This is the first back-to-back decline in durable goods orders since November-December 2002.
Shipments of durables fell 0.7 percent. Unfilled orders - up nine of the last 10 months - rose 0.4 percent.
Inventories rose 0.4 percent in May, for the sixth straight month.
Most sectors reported decreases in shipments and orders in May. Transportation orders had the largest decline, falling 4.1 percent.
Excluding transportation, orders fell 0.7 percent in May.
Orders for communications equipment fell 12.5 percent, the largest decline since last December.
Orders for electronics fell 3.7 percent, the largest drop since July 2002.
Orders for non-defense capital goods fell 2.6 percent in May. This series is considered the best monthly gauge of capital investment. This is the largest decline since January.
Defense capital goods fell 10.5 percent in May after falling 12.7 percent in the previous month.
Durable goods orders excluding defense goods fell 1.3 percent.
