Orders Jump for Key U.S. Long-Lasting Factory Goods
Orders for U.S. factory goods that signal business investment plans jumped last month by the most in more than a year, suggesting companies are confident about their business prospects.
Orders for U.S. factory goods that signal business investment plans jumped last month by the most in more than a year, suggesting companies are confident about their business prospects.
U.S. factory orders increased 1.8 percent in December, but demand for core capital goods, a category considered a proxy for business investment plans, dipped 0.3 percent in December following strong gains in November and October.
U.S. companies increased their orders for long-lasting manufactured goods in November, with a second consecutive monthly gain in a key category that reflects businesses' investment plans.
The Commerce Department says orders for long-lasting factory goods, such as computers and industrial machinery, fell in July. That excluded gains from the transportation category, which is volatile and rose largely because of orders at Boeing.
In 2011, the U.S. economy grew by 1.5% -- slow, but enough to show the country is moving in the right direction. Driving that growth were a handful of sectors, and these 11 states.
Growth in industrial production eased in October, as durable goods orders unexpectedly fell 3.3%. It was the largest decline in orders since January 2009.
U.S. wholesale inventories rose 1.5% in September, and when combined with a more-optimistic outlook by U.S. CEOs, the data suggest suppliers and businesses expect slightly better holiday sales this year than in 2009.
Investors got more evidence today that the manufacturing sector expansion continued into late summer/early fall. The key ex-transportation component also came in higher, at 0.4%. And the ex-defense number rose 1.9%. A solid month overall.
While overall factory orders fell 0.5% in August, if we factor out the volatile transportation component, orders actually rose 0.9% in August -- a statistic that confirms that the expansion in the nation%u2019s manufacturing sector continued this summer, but at a slower pace.
Stocks rallied sharply Friday to extend their winning ways to a fourth consecutive week. That's the longest rally since late April, when the markets hit their last peaks.
August's 1.3% drop in durable goods orders looks bad. But the real story is that the more-telling component that excludes volatile transportation orders rose 2%, doubling a Bloomberg survey's consensus estimate. So far, Wall Street is reacting ecstatically.
Factory orders rose just 0.1% in July, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Thursday in a report that further clarified that the manufacturing sector's expansion slowed down this summer. While the statistic did indicate tepid growth, it was less than the 0.3% gain economists had predicted.
Orders fell 1.2% in June, well below a survey estimate of a 0.5% drop, marking two down months in a row. Even excluding the often-volatile transportation component (airplanes and cars), orders fell 1.1% in June.
An unexpectedly high 1.4% decline in May factory orders capped a difficult week for the U.S. economy. Many analysts are worried that recent data for job creation, jobless claims and home sales all indicate that domestic growth is slowing.
Sure, durable goods orders fell 1.1% in the month -- the first decline in six months. But if you remove the volatile transportation component, orders rose 0.9%, confirming an ongoing expansion in the nation's manufacturing sector.
New orders for manufactured durable goods fell 1.1% in May, the first decline in six months. That's mostly due to a drop off in civilian aircraft orders, which had soared in April. Despite the drop, manufacturing is showing some strength.
The nation's recovery may appear slow in coming, but consumers are more upbeat heading into 2010. The Conference Board's consumer confidence rose to 52.9 in December, up from a revised 50.6 last month. That's the second monthly rise in a row.




















