Durable goods excluding transportation fell by 0.9% in May in the U.S. durable goods report on Wednesday, according to the Department of Commerce. Economists were expecting a 1.0% monthly decline following April's downwardly revised 1.9% increase.
Total sales of durable goods came in flat as anticipated by the consensus, following a downwardly revised 1.0% decrease in April, which was previously reported as a 0.5% decline.
"Overall, the details show more weakness in this report than the headline suggests," said RBS Greenwich economist Ian Lyngen, noting the headline revision to the prior month.
Excluding defence, orders were down 0.6% following a decline of 0.8% in the previous month.
Non-defence capital goods excluding aircraft fell by 0.8% in May following a 3.1% gain in the previous month.
The shipments component showed a 1.1% decline compared to the previous month's 1.8% advance.
Excluding transportation, shipments fell 0.2% after April's 2.1% gain, while shipments excluding defence fell by 1.1% after a 1.6% gain in April.
Inventories rose 0.4% compared to April's 0.6% gain.
By Patrick McGee and edited by Cristina Markham**CEP**