Orders for durable goods plunged 6.2 percent to $193 billion in October, the largest percentage decrease in two years, CNNMoney reported.

The last time the Commerce Department reported a decrease in orders this large was in October 2006, when orders fell 8.3 percent.

“There’s almost nothing positive here,” said Sam Bullard, an economist at Wachovia Corp. “The weakness was broad-based. That’s the consumer pulling back on big-ticket items.”

The decline in orders is a steeper drop than the 2.5 percent decrease expected by a survey of economists, and marks the third straight month of decreased orders. In September, it was initially reported that durable goods orders increased by 0.8 percent, but the number was readjusted to a 0.2 percent decline.

The only increase in new orders according to the Commerce Department was in communications equipment, which was up 7.7 percent.

Nondefense and nonaircraft capital goods – considered an indicator of business spending – decreased for the third consecutive month by 4.4 percent, as did new orders on transportation equipment.

That number is “a good proxy for business equipment spending,” Bullard said. “With that decreasing over the past three months, it points toward significant weakness.”

Bullard predicts the downturn will continue through 2010.

“Eventually it will turn around, but these numbers are down so low,” he said. “At this point, we’re not quite at the 2001 recession. But the numbers will get even lower, and they will reflect the more severe contractions of the mid-’70s and early ’80s recession.”