U.S durable goods orders down in November

According to data from the US Commerce Department, durable goods orders decreased by 4.6% on a monthly basis in November after soaring by 4.4% in October and exceeded economists’ initial estimates which were calling for a decrease of 4.4%.

This sharp drop in durable goods orders in November was mainly driven by a decrease of 13.2% in orders for transportation equipment after increasing by 12.3% in October. Orders for non-defense aircraft and parts pulled the orders further down dropping by 73.5% in November.

Meanwhile, durable goods orders were slightly up by 0.5% in November excluding orders for transportation when compared to the increase of 0.9% in October and beat the expectations which called for a small increase of 0.2%. This rise was attributed to the increasing demand for primary metals, machinery and communications equipment.