US durable goods orders drop 2.8 percent in February

WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories for long-lasting manufactured goods fell in February with a key category that tracks business investment dropping by the largest amount since December.

Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said that the drop in orders for business investment suggested that capital investment would be a drag on overall economic growth in the first quarter.

The weakness in demand for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, the category used as a proxy for business investment, reflects in part trouble in the energy industry, which has suffered cutbacks and layoffs because of the big plunge in oil prices over the past year.