WASHINGTON — Orders for goods produced in US factories dropped 1.5 percent in March, the biggest decline in three years, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected orders to fall by 1.6 percent. Factory orders rose a revised 1.1 percent in February, down from a prior estimate of 1.3 percent growth.

Orders for durable goods — products meant to last at least three years — sank four percent in March. Orders for non-durable goods rose 0.5 percent.

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