Bookings for factory goods rose 1.8 percent after a revised 0.2 percent drop the previous month, data from the Commerce Department showed Wednesday. Demand for aircraft, autos and metals compensated for a drop in computers and electronics.
Slowing demand for capital goods like computers is a sign that business investment will cool this year, reflecting concern over a slowdown in global growth and a less advantageous government tax credit.
“Manufacturing is holding up fairly well,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pa. “Business investment has been very strong during this recovery, so some softening isn’t surprising.”
Economists forecast factory orders would rise 2 percent, according to the median of 57 projections in a Bloomberg News survey.
Orders for durable goods, or those meant to last at least three years, increased 3.7 percent. Demand for capital goods excluding aircraft and military equipment, a measure of future business investment, fell 1.2 percent.
Bookings for commercial aircraft, a volatile category, jumped 74 percent after dropping 14 percent. Orders for computers and electronic products fell 4.3 percent.
Bookings for nondurable goods, including petroleum and chemicals, rose 0.3 percent, the report from the Commerce Department showed.
Inventories climbed 0.5 percent in November, indicating factories were ramping up production to restock warehouses.
Manufacturing in the United States grew in December at the fastest pace in six months, the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index showed Tuesday.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=cb4e1c482fffc0478c5201cf88535507
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.