Orders for big-ticket U.S. good sank last month for the first time in five months, according to government data released Thursday. The Commerce Department reported that orders for durable goods fell 4.6% in November, led by a plunge in order from Boeing Co. BA, +0.70% Economists had expected overall durable-goods orders to drop 4.5%, according to a MarketWatch survey. –– ADVERTISEMENT –– The drop in November retraces a revised 4.8% gain in orders in the prior month. Orders in October were revised up from the previous estimate of a 4.6% gain. Orders for civilian aircraft plunged 73.5% in November after surging 94.6% in the prior month. Details of the report were stronger than the headline. Excluding transportation, orders for durable goods rose 0.5%, the fifth straight monthly gain. Another key measure, orders for core capital goods, a proxy for business investment, rose 0.9% in November, the most since August. Shipments of core capital goods, a category used to calculate quarterly economic growth, rose 0.2% in November. Durable goods are pricey items designed to last for several years, so growth signals enough confidence in the economy to make such investments. Also Thursday, the government reported that shipments of overall durable goods rose 0.1% in November

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