By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. orders for durable goods dipped 0.1% in August as demand fell for primary metals, motor vehicles and large defense products excluding aircraft, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected orders to rise by 0.4%. Bookings for motor vehicles dropped 8.5% - the biggest decline since February 2010 - while defense capital goods shrank by 5.7%. Yet orders for core capital goods, which omit the volatile defense and transportation sectors, climbed 1.1%. Core capital orders give a better read on trends in the private sector. In addition, shipments of core capital equipment goods, which the government uses to help calculate gross domestic product, rose 2.8% last month. Orders for July, which rose 4.1%, were unchanged.
