By Paul Kiernan and David Harrison

 

WASHINGTON--Orders for long-lasting factory goods declined in April as business investment cooled while orders for civilian aircraft fell sharply amid problems with a major Boeing Co. airliner model.

Orders for durable goods--products designed to last at least three years, such as cars and appliances--fell 2.1% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted $248.4 billion in April, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 2% drop in the month.

Orders for March were revised down to a 1.7% increase from a previous estimate of a 2.6% rise. Through the first four months of 2019, demand for durable products was up 2% from the same period a year earlier.

A closely watched proxy for business investment, new orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, slipped 0.9% in April after rising a revised 0.3% in March. That measure rose 2.6% in the first four months of 2019 from a year earlier, reflecting moderate gains in capital expenditures.

Friday's report showed orders in the volatile civilian aircraft category plunging 25% in April, likely reflecting a March decision by global aviation authorities to ground Boeing's 737 MAX airliner model following two fatal crashes. Acting Federal Aviation Administration chief Daniel Elwell told reporters at a news conference Wednesday that he couldn't predict when the fleet would be back in the air.

New orders for motor vehicles and parts fell a seasonally adjusted 3.4% in April from March, while durable-goods orders excluding transportation were flat.

Orders for defense capital goods advanced 4.8% last month. Excluding defense, durable-goods orders were down 2.5%.

The Commerce Department's durable goods orders report can be found at http://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3.

 

Write to Paul Kiernan at paul.kiernan@wsj.com and David Harrison at david.harrison@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2019 08:45 ET (12:45 GMT)

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