New orders for durable goods in the US fell 2.8 pct in May, depressed by drops in orders at Boeing and for business capital goods. Ex-transportation new orders were down 1.0 pct. The Commerce Department report today was far weaker than analysts had been expecting, with forecasts for a 1.0 pct drop overall and a 0.6 pct increase excluding transportation. Civilian aircraft orders fell 22.7 pct. Boeing reported 92 orders last month, down from 136 in April. That was partly offset in the headline orders number by a 2.3 pct increase for autos. Outside of transportation, new orders for electrical equipment and appliances were down 3.9 pct. Orders for primary metals fell 3.6 pct and machinery orders fell 1.6 pct. Ex-defense orders fell 3.2 pct. So-called core capital goods orders, excluding aircraft and defense, were down 3.2 pct, their biggest decline since a minus 4.4 pct in January of this year. The May durables orders report runs contrary to other recent indicators showing pickups in business investment and manufacturing. The principal bright spot was a 0.8 pct increase in unfilled orders. Manufacturers shipments in May were up 0.4 pct. Inventories rose 0.2 pct.