US durable goods orders fall sharply in July

New orders for US manufactured goods fell 7.3 percent in July after three straight months of gains New orders for US manufactured goods fell 7.3 percent in July after three straight months of gains, the Commerce Department said Monday .
Total orders for the month were $226.6 billion, $17.8 billion below June\'s figure.
The main source of the fall was a drop in orders for transportation equipment -- notably often volatile civilian aircraft orders -- which fell 19.4 percent to $69.7 billion.
Excluding transportation, however, new orders for durable goods were down 0.6 percent.
For the year to date, durable goods orders reached $1.525 trillion, up a modest 3.3 percent from the same period in 2012.
Source: AFP