Surprise fall in US goods orders

Civilian aircraft orders were down in October

A slump in demand for civilian aircraft has helped trigger the sharpest fall in orders for big-ticket products in the US for more than six years.

The 8.3% drop in durable goods orders, the biggest since July 2000, suggests weakness in the manufacturing sector.

According to the Commerce Department, the fall was 1.7% even after the transportation sector was excluded.

The term durable goods covers everything from computers to cars, aeroplanes and defence products.

It is intended to apply to items which should stay in use for three years or more after purchase - and are also often the first things postponed if money is tight.

Overall, transportation orders were down 21.7%.

'Signs emerging'

"The numbers look weaker than the Fed has been counting on in terms of maintaining stability in the economy," said Pierre Ellis, a senior economist at Decision Economics.

Most analysts had expected overall durable orders to decline 4.6% in October, but to rise 0.2% when transport orders were pulled out.

"There are some signs emerging that the manufacturing sector is softening," said David Sloan, senior economist at 4Cast.

The durable goods figures are just the latest data to suggest that US economic growth is flagging.

Consumer confidence has also slumped.

The latest figures show that the consumer confidence index fell to 102.9 in November from a revised reading of 105.1 in October, the lowest since August, according to the Conference Board, a business organisation.

"A tighter labor market and a more guarded short-term outlook have combined to curb consumers' confidence in November," said Lynn Franco of the Conference Board.

But the sales of existing US homes rose slightly in October to an annual rate of 6.24 million, although the average price continued to fall.