Durable Goods Orders Flat in August

The Commerce Department reported on Wednesday durable goods orders were unchanged in August from the prior month, still beating the median forecast. Economists expected orders for long-lasting manufactured goods to decrease by 1.4%.

Durable goods are manufactured products such as cars, refrigerators and airplanes designed and expected to last longer than three years-were. Excluding the volatile categories of defense and transportation products, or products largely paid for by taxpayers, durable goods orders actually declined.

Meanwhile, durable goods orders excluding transportation fell by 0.4% and have decrease during three of the past four months,, matching the median forecast. Orders outside of defense fell 1% last month from July.