The Commerce Department reported on Thursday that April orders for goods manufactured in the U.S. saw their largest decline in more than a year, falling 2.9% to $320.0 billion for the month. Economists were expecting a 1.8% decline.
March orders had risen 2.1% (revised down from the original 2.2% gain), the largest gain since July 2002. February orders dipped 1.0% and January rose 1.7%.
The report also showed that non-durable-goods orders fell 3.5% after a 2.9% rise in March.
Consumer-goods orders fell by 4.2%, with non-durable consumer-goods orders, which includes footwear and apparel, falling 5.4%.
