ISTANBUL

New orders for US-manufactured durable goods declined less than expected in December, falling 1.4% from the previous month, according to data released Wednesday by the US Census Bureau.

A measure of the change in value of new purchase orders placed with manufacturers, new orders decreased by $4.6 billion to $319.6 billion.

The drop followed an upwardly revised 5.4% monthly decline in November, while market expectations had pointed to a 1.8% decrease in December.

"Transportation equipment, also down two of the last three months, drove the decrease, $6.4 billion or 5.3% to $113.5 billion," the agency said in a statement.

The decrease in the transportation equipment orders was primarily due to a 25.9% decline in non-defense aircraft and parts.

Orders also declined for capital goods (-3.9%), while picking up for defense aircraft and parts (9.5% in December vs 3.2% in November) and computers and electronic products (3% vs 0.7%).

Orders for non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft, a carefully monitored indicator of business spending plans, increased by 0.6%.

Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.9% month-on-month in December, while excluding defense, new orders decreased 2.5%.

Durable goods orders data is critical for determining the near-term performance in the industrial sector, which plays a significant role in the US economy.