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Washington (AFP)

Weak sales of civilian and defense aircraft in July dragged down sales of US-manufactured goods which posted the biggest drop in six months, the government reported Friday.

It was a downbeat start to the third quarter, and suggested the sector had softened since the spring.

There were signs of strength, however, as orders for autos and capital goods, as well as machinery and electronics, showed resilience, according to the Commerce Department monthly report.

The result could weigh on GDP growth for the July-September period, which is expected to be significantly slower than the blockbuster April-June quarter.

Total orders for large, US-manufactured items fell 1.7 percent last month to $246.9 billion, undershooting economists' expectations, which had called for a decrease of only 0.6 percent, the report said.

The dip in sales also followed a slight downward revision to June.

Steep plunges in volatile sales of civilian and defense aircraft, which both fell about 35 percent for the month, did the damage.

But auto sales marked their second monthly increase, rising 3.5 percent.

Still, outside the volatile transportation segment, which sees big swings from month to month, sales only rose a modest 0.2 percent.

While it was the sixth consecutive monthly increase, economists had been expecting a larger 0.4 percent increase. Monthly gains for the measure have been small since April.

Capital goods orders not including aircraft and defense, which can track activity in the oil and gas sector, rose a strong 1.4 percent.

Computer sales also jumped 12.6 percent, rising along with primary metals and machinery.

© 2018 AFP