The U.S. Commerce Department reported that orders for non-defense capital goods fell to $686 billion in December 2019, their lowest level in eight months and the third consecutive quarterly drop.
When defense-related investment was factored into the calculation, business investment overall rose by 2.4 percent in December.
Indeed, in his State of the Union address, President Trump boasted, “We have invested a record-breaking $2.2 trillion in the United States military.”
