Washington, DC, Orders for durable goods dropped 0.9 percent, according to the Commerce Department. Excluding a 5.3 percent drop in orders for transportation goods, new orders actually increased by 0.8 percent.
Economists were expecting no change in durable goods during January.
December durable orders were revised higher to reflect an increase of 1.4 percent gain. They were originally reported as having increased 1.1 percent.
Durable goods orders are extremely volatile, particularly for big-ticket items such as airplanes. New orders are up 10.5 percent since January 2004.
Shipments of durables were up 1.5 percent in the month after an upwardly revised 2.8 percent increase in December.
Transportation goods accounted for the decline in new orders. Orders for aircraft sank 27.1 percent in January after falling 16.8 percent in December.
Orders for motor vehicles fell 3.8 percent after a 4.9 percent rise in December. Orders for defense aircraft jumped 56.9 percent after a 39.8 percent decline in December.
