New orders for U.S. durable goods dropped 2.4 percent in July, led by a big decline in demand for aircraft and automobiles, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The report showed that orders for durable goods, big-ticket items expected to last at least three years, totaled 212 billion U.S. dollars in July, decreasing by 5.3 billion dollars from June.

The drop in durable goods orders followed two straight monthly increases. Analysts had expected the orders to remain unchanged for July.

In July, the demand for transportation equipment, which accounts for more than a quarter of overall durable goods, plunged by 9.6 percent. In this category, orders for commercial aircraft and parts dropped 10 percent while orders for motor vehicles and parts declined by 7 percent.

Excluding the fluctuating demand for transportation equipment, overall durable goods orders were up 0.5 percent in July.

Source: Xinhua