US manufactured goods orders slump in July

WASHINGTON: Orders of major US manufactured goods slipped in July according to government data released Thursday, as a boost in civilian aircraft orders faded.

New orders for durable goods fell 5.2 percent from June to July to $285.9 billion according to Commerce Department data, a slightly bigger drop than analysts had expected.

The slide comes on the back of a 43.6 percent plunge in nondefense aircraft and parts, while new orders ticked up 0.5 percent overall when the transportation segment was excluded.

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Despite the dramatic figure, “this merely reverses the June spike, caused by a surge in civilian aircraft orders at the Paris Air Show, which was not repeated in July,” said analysts at Pantheon Macroeconomics in a recent report.

“The big picture here is that the re-opening boost to civilian aircraft demand has faded,” they added.

Elsewhere, orders of motor vehicles and parts rose 0.8 percent last month, according to the Commerce Department.

Fresh orders of nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft edged up 0.1 percent – a key figure to watch as such orders factor in to the equipment investment component of GDP, said Pantheon economists.

The near-flat reading comes as the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes continue feeding through the economy, as policymakers work to ease demand and cool inflation sustainably.