March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Orders for U.S. durable goods unexpectedly fell in February, led by the biggest slump ever in demand for machinery that indicates companies are becoming more reluctant to invest as the economy heads into a recession.
The 1.7 percent drop followed a 4.7 percent decrease in the prior month, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Excluding orders for transportation equipment, which tend to be volatile, bookings fell 2.6 percent, the most since January 2007.
Businesses are cutting back on equipment purchases as the biggest housing downturn in a quarter century hurts sales, and rising fuel costs erode profit. Improving demand from overseas is the only thing preventing manufacturing from declining even more.
``Businesses definitely have shown they are beginning to retrench,'' said Aaron Smith, senior economist at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in an interview with Bloomberg Television. ``Demand is weakening and investment intentions are showing a bit of fatigue.''
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