US durable goods orders tumble in June

US durable goods orders fell for a second straight month in June, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday, hit by weaker aircraft sales but also slumping sales of electronics and machinery.

Orders of durable goods -- long-lasting manufactured goods -- dropped 4.0 percent to $219.8 billion, following a 2.8 percent decrease in May.

The two-month fall left durable goods orders flat for the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2015, a sign of the growth slowdown in international markets and the dampening effect on exports of the strong dollar, economists say.

June's fall mainly came from lower civilian aircraft orders -- pointing mainly to slower sales recorded by aviation giant Boeing. Also down were orders for defense aircraft.

New orders for motor vehicles and parts, the largest single category, rose 2.6 percent in June after a 3.1 percent fall the month before.

There was also a 2.2 percent fall in new orders for computers and electronics products in June.

The June durable goods numbers, which were worse than expected, weaken slightly the picture for overall economic growth in the second quarter, analysts said.

"The extreme headline weakness was driven primarily by a huge drop in nondefense aircraft and defense orders, two highly volatile indicators not very representative of the underlying economy," said Jay Morelock of FTN Financial.

"With that said, both orders and shipments of nondefense capital goods ex-aircraft continue to deteriorate despite the small rise in orders in June, indicating broad weakness across the durable goods sector of the economy."

The government will release its first estimate of gross domestic product for the quarter on Friday, with economists forecasting a 1.1 percent annual rate before Wednesday's data was released.