The Fukushima earthquake disrupted global supply chains
The Commerce Department said today that new orders for US big manufactured goods fell in June due to a sharp drop in transport equipment and in civil aircraft in particular.
Orders for durable goods fell by $4 billion or 2.1% to $192 billion for the month. An 8.5% or $4.2 billion fall in transport goods orders accounted for the drop.
U.S. markets fell on the news, combined with the crisis in Washington over the debt ceiling. The Dow Jones index lost 199 points or 1.59% to 12,302 by the end of trading, dragging European markets down with it.
Orders for commercial aircraft and parts slumped by almost 30%, while those for defense planes and parts fell 20%. Excluding transport, new orders rose by 1%.
June is the second month in the last three that durable goods orders have fallen. A major reaason, as identified by analysts is the uncertain outlook for the U.S. economy, with many large firms looking to hoard cash until important issue like the debt ceiling and the outlook for the economy firm up.
The supply chain disruption caused by March’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan were another reason for the slowdown cause.
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