Consumer-goods orders fell 1.9%, with consumer durable goods orders falling 0.7% and non-durables down 2.2%.
The drop was due largely to a reduction in the output of consumer durable goods, official data showed Friday.
New home sales in April were at about the same level as May 2008 and sales of consumer durable goods are still depressed.
So the cost of trade continues to fall, and that lowers the effective cost of everything that's traded: raw materials, labor, durable assets, consumer goods, capital, commodities and money itself.
In 2006 the steelmaker embarked on a massive investment and construction project to build blast furnaces to produce high-quality virgin steel for cars, ships and consumer durable goods for parent Hyundai Motor and other customers.
But in 2006, it embarked on a massive investment and construction project to build blast furnaces which use iron ore and coking coal to produce high-quality virgin steel for cars, ships and consumer durable goods.
Peters said the upcoming durable goods and consumer confidence numbers will determine whether today's rally figures are sustainable.
U.S. stock futures were modestly higher ahead of data including durable goods orders, consumer confidence and new home sales.
But, these were offset by the recovery in residential investment and consumer spending on durable goods which was boosted in part by an aging auto fleet feeding new car sales.
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Rent-A-Center operates company owned rent-to-own stores which offer high-quality, durable goods such as consumer electronics, appliances, furniture and accessories to consumers under flexible rental purchase arrangements that allow the customer to obtain ownership of the merchandise at the conclusion of an agreed-upon rental period.
The week ended with a slight increase in durable-goods orders, while consumer sentiment continues to drop as concerns over the fiscal cliff mount.
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Away from the depressing housing industry, the reports have been of unexpected big declines in durable goods orders, in consumer confidence, construction spending, as well as slowing manufacturing growth as measured by the Chicago area PMI Index, and the national ISM Manufacturing Index.
While some of the slowdown came primarily from a decline in farm inventories, due to the drought in the mid-west, consumer service spending, exports and durable goods all declined as well.
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The Furniture Village chain - which, as a vendor of big-ticket durable goods, is particularly sensitive to consumer frugality - reported almost a thousand transactions at its 40 stores by mid-afternoon on Boxing Day, putting it on course to beat the 1, 200 sales it closed on the same day in 2011.
U.S. economic data due for release Wednesday includes the weekly jobless claims report, the weekly MBA mortgage applications survey, durable goods orders, personal income and outlays and the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey.
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On Wednesday, we get durable-goods orders, personal income and outlays, jobless claims, and the University of Michigan Consumer Survey.
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U.S. economic reports due for release Friday include durable goods orders, personal income and outlays, the Chicago Fed national activity index, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey, and the Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey.
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