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Capital Goods Orders Fall in August
October 1, 2018
New orders for U.S. capital goods fell unexpectedly in August, after increasing for four straight months. Orders of so-called “core” capital goods, which strips out the volatile aircraft component, decreased 0.5 percent last month. Economists had anticipated an increase of 0.4 percent for the month.
The orders for capital goods—which are products that are used in the production of other goods, rather than sold directly to consumers—are closely watched, as they signal business spending plans.
Despite the unexpected drop, capital goods orders for August were up 7.4 percent year-over-year.