Business news with words aircraft+department+dropped. 2 news.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- A big jump in demand for civilian aircraft pushed durable goods orders up for the first time in four months in November, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Excluding transportation orders, however, durable goods orders fell by 0.7% in November. New orders for non-defense aircraft and parts shot up by 20.9% in November, the data show. However, new orders for defense aircraft and parts dropped by 20.1% in the same month. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were expecting orders for durable goods to climb by 2.9% in November after falling by 0.2% in October.

Factory orders decline more than expected Orders to factories fell in August by the largest amount in seven months, reflecting weakness across a wide swath of manufacturing as the turbulent financial market made businesses more cautious. The Commerce Department said orders dropped 3.3 percent in August, even worse than the expected 2.8 percent decline. It was the biggest setback since orders fell 4.2 percent in January. Demand for commercial aircraft fell 39.9 percent, leading the overall decline. Orders also were weak for other industries, from autos and home appliances to industrial machine