US durable goods fall less than expected

(Sharecast News) - US durable goods orders fell for the second straight month in July as purchasing managers again pulled back after a tariff-related surge in May, according to data out on Tuesday from the Census Bureau. New orders for goods made to last for at least three years were down 2.8% over the month at $302.8bn, following a 9.4% slump in June.

The recent decline followed a 16.5% increase in May - the biggest jump since 2014 - after the launch of trade tariffs in April caused a temporary drop, and subsequent rebound, in orders.

Orders for transportation equipment, which has now fallen in three of the past four months, declined 9.7% to $101.7bn in July. Excluding these, durable goods orders would have been 1.1% higher than the previous month.

Nevertheless, the overall decline in orders wasn't as bad as the consensus forecast of -4.0%.

Meanwhile, shipments of manufactured durable goods rose for the eighth straight month, rising 1.4% to $307.5bn, following a 0.7% increase in June.

Unfilled orders were more or less flat at $1,469.4bn, while inventories of manufactured goods were just 0.3% higher at $590.8bn.