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WASHINGTON (AP) - Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods fell by the largest amount in 5 1/2 years in Januar(AP) — y as demand for commercial aircraft suffered the biggest setback in seven years, the government reported Friday.
The Commerce Department said that orders for durable goods, everything from computers to cars, fell by 10.2 percent last month, a much bigger decline than had been expected.
The weakness was led by a 68.2 percent drop in orders for commercial aircraft reflecting a falloff in sales at Boeing Co. after two very strong months. Analysts said the overall decline overstated the weakness in manufacturing because it was so heavily influenced by the volatile aircraft sector.
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