Durable goods orders in the United States were down by 2.8% in July, month-to-month to $302.8 billion, the US Census Bureau revealed in its report on Tuesday. The figure exceeded the analysts' expectations by 1%. The decrease was led by the transportation equipment, which dropped 2.3% to $101.5 billion. New orders, excluding transportation, advanced by 1.1%, and excluding defense, decreased by 2.5%. Shipment of manufactured durable goods reported a rise of 1.4% to $307.5 billion, while unfilled orders for manufactured goods slightly increased by $0.4 billion to $1,469.4 billion. (full story)