Durable goods orders fell 4.5% in August, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Orders fell twice as much as forecast, Bloomberg reported.
Excluding transportation orders, bookings for goods meant to last several years decreased 3%, Commerce said. Bloomberg reported that this was the largest drop since January 2007.
Economists had expected orders to fall 1.9% after the 1.3% increase in July, and excluding transportation orders to fall by 0.5%, Bloomberg reported.
Durable goods include large items such as refrigerators and air conditioners. Trucking is a major beneficiary of durable goods manufacturing, hauling both components and finished goods.
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