New Orders for Durable Goods Down 4 of 5 Months, Autos Down 6 of 7 Months

New orders for manufactured durable goods in December, down four of the last five months, decreased $6.3 billion or 2.2 percent to $276.1 billion. This followed a 2.0 percent November decrease. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.3 percent.