Wall Street Journal (09/27/12) Jeffrey Sparshott; Eric Morath

Orders for durable goods sank 13.2% in August, the biggest one-month decline in more than three years, as bookings for autos and aircraft fell sharply, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported today. That was the biggest decrease since January 2009 and the lowest dollar figure for new orders since February 2011. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected a 5.6% drop in August new orders. The report showed that one key barometer of business investment grew in August. Orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft increased by 1.1%, suggesting a small degree of optimism among companies about the economic recovery.