Investing.com - Orders for durable goods, which are meant to last at least three years, fell in April, according to data released on Friday.
Durable-goods orders fell 1.7% last month, the Commerce Department said. Economists had forecast a 1.4% decrease.
Excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders increased 0.9% in April. That beat expectations for a rise of 0.5%.
March’s reading was revised up to a 0.4% gain from an initial decline of 0.1%.
A key measure of business investment, meanwhile, rose in April. Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, rose by 1.0% from a month earlier.
Economists had expected an increase of just 0.7%.