Durable goods orders below expectations
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New orders for long-lasting U.S-made manufactured goods rose 1.4 percent in June on a big rise in orders for nondefense aircraft, a Commerce Department report on Thursday showed.
Economists in a Reuters poll taken ahead of the report were expecting durable goods orders to increase by a somewhat bigger 1.8 percent. June's increase came after a 2.3 percent decrease the prior month, a decline that had been driven by a drop in aircraft orders.
U.S. Treasury debt prices rose on Thursday, stretching to new session highs, after the weaker-than-expected data on durable goods suggested flagging business growth in the latter part of the second quarter.
The dollar fell to a two-and-a-half month low against the yen and was little changed against the euro.
"Overall, manufacturing is not in crisis but neither is it charging ahead," said Ian Sheperdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics Ltd in Valhalla, New York.
In the report, nondefense aircraft orders rose 28.7 percent in June after a 21 percent decline the prior month.
Excluding volatile transportation orders, new orders for items meant to last three or more years unexpectedly fell 0.5 percent. Wall Street economists had expected a 0.5 percent rise. Nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, seen as a good gauge of business spending, fell 0.7 percent. Economists were expecting to see a 0.8 percent gain.
