US factory orders rise moderately in December
NEW orders for US-made goods rose just moderately in December, but a pick up is likely in the months ahead as unfilled orders continued to pile up.
Factory orders gained 0.2 per cent after rebounding 2.6 per cent in November, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Friday (Feb 2). The increase was in line with economists’ expectations. Orders increased 0.8 per cent on a year-on-year basis in December.
Manufacturing, which accounts for 10.3 per cent of the economy, is being constrained by high interest rates. The outlook is, however, promising.
The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. Fed chair Jerome Powell told reporters that rates had peaked and would move lower in coming months.
The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing PMI neared the recovery zone in January.
Civilian aircraft orders gained 0.4 per cent in December after soaring 84.1 per cent in November, while orders for motor vehicles, parts and trailers increased 0.9 per cent. There were also increases in orders for primary metals, computers and electronic products as well as electrical equipment, appliances and components.
SEE ALSO
Shipments of manufactured goods were unchanged. Manufactured goods inventories edged up 0.1 per cent, while unfilled orders increased 1.3 per cent after rising by the same margin in November.
The government also reported that orders for non-defence capital goods excluding aircraft, which are seen as a measure of business spending plans on equipment, increased 0.2 per cent instead of 0.3 per cent as estimated last month.
Shipments of these so-called core capital goods were unchanged instead of edging up 0.1 per cent as previously reported. Business spending on equipment rebounded slightly in the fourth quarter. REUTERS
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