factories

The U.S. manufacturing sector is a sight for sore eyes: After more than a year of expansion, it's still growing, as American factories continue to churn out the equipment, machines and products that emerging-market nations need to develop their infrastructures.

It's been a long time since the DJIA reflected just America's smokestack economy. But today's economic rebound is being led so far by manufacturers. And if you plot those Dow components as a group, you'll see they're leading the larger pack by far.

The manufacturing sector expanded for the 17th straight month in December, with new orders rising faster than inventories. When combined with improvements in other sector components, the data suggest the factory sector will continue to support the U.S. economy expansion through at least the first quarter of 2011.

A key U.S. manufacturing index unexpectedly dipped slightly in November, but it remained at a level that indicates that the industrial expansion continues. Led by export demand, the factory sector expanded for the 16th consecutive month.

The Empire State Manufacturing Index, which provides a snapshot of a key U.S. economic region, jolted investors Monday. It took a surprising plunge to a minus 11.14 reading in November -- the index's first negative measure since July.

Manufacturing activity slowed in September, but the sector continues to expand, the Institute for Supply Management said Friday. What%u2019s more, key component data for new orders point to weaker industrial growth in the fourth quarter, the group added.

Dell to Spend More Than $100 Billion on China OperationsDell Inc. (DELL) will spend more than $100 billion over a 10-year period to expand operations and sales in China. The company will open a new operations center in Chengdu next year, boosting production, sales and support in southwest China, Bloomberg News reported. Dell will also add an office and as many as 500 workers to its existing facility in Xiamen.

Retail and housing are lingering concerns, but the nation's factory sector isn't ready to concede economic defeat yet. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index unexpectedly rose 1.8 points in August to 56.3.

The less-than-expected durable good orders gain in July is more evidence that economic growth slowed in summer. This will likely increase pressure on the Fed for action to jump-start a U.S. economy that's operating well below potential.

The 1% increase eases worries that activity in the sector that's so far led the recovery is slowing. The July increase was led by strong performances in the manufacturing and mining segments, while utility output cooled off.