New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods plunged by 2.8 percent in May, following three consecutive monthly increases, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

The plunge in demand for durable goods, big-ticket items expected to last for at least three years, was far steeper than the 1 percent drop analysts had been forecasting.

The May weakness in durable goods orders came as demand for transportation products, which account for more than one quarter of total durable goods orders, dropped by 6.8 percent, sharper than the 1.8 percent decline in April.

Of that, orders for commercial aircraft and parts, which can be extremely volatile from month to month, plunged by 22.7 percent in May.

Demand for motor vehicles and parts, however, rose by 2.3 percent, rebounding from the 2.8 percent drop in April.

Excluding volatile transportation product orders, total durable goods orders would have decreased by 1 percent last month, compared to an increase of 2.5 percent in the previous month.

Orders for other durable products, including machinery, electronic appliances and primary metals such as steel, all declined in May.

Demand for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched guide to business investment plans, declined 3.2 percent in May after gaining 1.2 percent in April.

Still, analysts expect the manufacturing sector, after a period of weakness, to revive as the overall economic growth speeds up.

The U.S. economy slowed to an annual growth rate of 0.6 percent in the first quarter of this year. But analysts predict the pace will rebound to 3.5 percent in the second quarter.