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New orders for key U.S.-manufactured capital goods unexpectedly fell in July and data for the prior month was revised lower, suggesting a loss of momentum in business spending on equipment that extended into the early part of the third quarter, Reuters reports.
Nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft dipped 0.1% last month after a downwardly revised 0.5% increase in June, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Monday.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast these so-called core capital goods orders would be unchanged after a previously reported 0.9% jump in June.
Business spending on equipment notched double-digit growth in the second quarter, with spending on goods largely holding up despite 525 basis points worth of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023.
