A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods pulled back by much more than expected in the month of October.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders plunged by 5.4 percent in October after surging by 4.6 percent in September. Economists had expected durable goods orders to tumble by 3.1 percent.
The sharp pullback in durable goods orders came as orders for transportation equipment plummeted by 14.8 percent in October after spiking by 11.6 percent in September.
Excluding the steep drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders were virtually unchanged in October after edging up by 0.2 percent in September. Ex-transportation orders were expected to inch up by 0.1 percent.
