These numbers are not good news for the commercial aircraft industry, but the rest of the numbers are looking ok.
Orders to American factories fell in July by the largest amount in three months, reflecting a sharp drop in demand for commercial aircraft.
But the fall was not as great as the speculators on Wall Street had anticipated.
These numbers are intriguing.
The July decrease, which was slightly smaller than Wall Street had been expecting, reflected a 2.5 percent fall in demand for durable goods. Weakness in that area reflected a 10.6 percent drop in the volatile category of commercial aircraft.
Much of the comparison here is between durable and non-durable goods.
Orders for nondurable goods, items such as food and clothing, rose by 1.6 percent in July, helping to cushion the drop in demand for durable goods, items expected to last at least three years.
Since many consumers were either planning or spending for back-to-school items, this is not that surprising.
The Commerce Department reported that orders for manufactured goods fell by 0.6 percent, the biggest drop since a 2 percent plunge in April. Factory orders had risen by 1.5 percent in June and 1 percent in May.
So, this isn't really telling us a whole lot we didn't already expect, except that we didn't sell as many airplanes as last month. Who knows what next month will bring?
Stay tuned...
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