(Bloomberg) -- Orders placed with U.S. factories for durable goods fell in December for the first time in three months, pointing to a pause in capital investment at the close of the fourth quarter.

Bookings for all durable goods -- or items meant to last at least three years -- dropped 0.9% from November, reflecting a drop in orders for commercial aircraft and communications equipment. At the same time, durables orders for November were revised up to a 3.2% gain.

The value of core capital goods orders, a proxy for business investment in equipment that excludes aircraft and military hardware, was little changed after climbing a revised 0.3% in the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed Thursday. 

The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 0.4% increase in core capital goods orders and a 0.6% decline in total durables bookings. 

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