New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods declined in April, though the decline was slower than analyst expectations, an advance report from the U.S. Census Bureau showed.

Seasonally adjusted new orders fell 2.1% month over month to $248.40 billion in April, following a revised 1.7% increase in the previous month.

The Econoday consensus forecast was for a 2.2% monthly drop.

Excluding transportation, for which new orders fell 5.9%, the April reading was virtually unchanged. Excluding defense, new orders were down 2.5%.

Shipments of manufactured durable goods dropped 1.6% to $253.30 billion in April, following a revised 0.5% fall in the prior month.

Unfilled orders edged down 0.1%, while inventories rose 0.4%.