Aircraft lead durable goods nosedive

WASHINGTON — Orders to U.S. factories for longlasting manufactured goods fell in June by the largest amount in nearly two years, reflecting a big decline in the volatile category of commercial aircraft and broad weakness across a number of other areas. The key category that tracks business investment eked out a small gain.

Demand for durable goods dropped 4 percent in June, the biggest setback since an 18.4 percent drop in August 2014, the Commerce Department reported yesterday. Excluding the volatile transportation area, orders would have still been down, but by a smaller 0.5 percent.

The new report was weaker than analysts had been expecting and indicates manufacturing remains under stress from weak global demand and a strong dollar.

The orders report prompted some analysts to lower their forecasts for overall growth in the April-June quarter. Economists at Barclays Research trimmed their forecast to 2.3 percent growth, down from 2.4 percent.