According to the U.S. Department of Commerce , new orders for durable goods manufactured in the U.S. fell by 5.3 percent in January, the largest decline in five months.
Durable goods include long-life items like airplanes, automobiles and computers. The 5.3 percent decrease represents a drop of $12 billion compared to January 2007, but follows increases in November and December.
Shipments of durable goods were up 1.8 percent in January after a 0.4 percent decline in December.
