WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – New U.S. capital goods orders unexpectedly dropped in November while shipments rose slightly. This suggests that equipment shortages are limiting business spending.

The Commerce Department reported on Thursday that orders for non-defense capital items excluding aircraft fell 0.1% in October. This closely monitored proxy for business spending plans is the Commerce Department. The so-called core capital good orders jumped 0.9% in October.

Reuters polled economists and found that core capital goods orders were expected to rise 0.6%.

After an increase of 0.4% in October, core capital goods shipped increased 0.3% last month. The GDP measure uses shipments of core capital goods to determine equipment spending.

After four quarters of consecutive double-digit growth, business spending on equipment fell in the third quarter. A shortage of vehicles was the main reason for its decline. Motor vehicle production is being hampered by a global shortage in semiconductors.

The order for durable goods, including items such as toasters or aircrafts that can last at least three years, rose 2.5% in November after an increase of 0.1% last October. These were helped by an increase of 6.5% in transportation equipment orders, following a drop of 0.3% in October. Following a rebound of 5.8% last October, motor vehicle orders increased by 1.0%.

After falling 4.1% in October, orders for volatile civil aircraft rose 34.1%. Boeing (NYSE: ) stated on its website, that it received 109 orders for aircraft last month, compared with only 10, in October.