Factory Orders Drop 4% in March

Factory orders fell 4% in March, the biggest drop since August, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

The decrease followed a revised 1.9% gain in February that was smaller than originally reported.

The drop was larger than economists’ forecasts of a 2.9% decline, Bloomberg News reported.

Durable goods orders fell 5.8%, the biggest decline in seven months, Bloomberg said.

Orders for capital goods excluding aircraft and military equipment, a measure of future business investment, rose 0.9% following a 4.8% drop the previous month.

Commercial aircraft orders, which tend to be volatile, dropped 48.3%.

The trucking industry relies on factory orders and shipments for much of its business.