New orders for US factory goods sank in November in the largest drop in over half a year, the US government said today in a report suggesting a patchy recovery in the hard-hit manufacturing sector.
Factory orders dropped 1.4 per cent in November, the US Commerce Department said, after rising 2.4 per cent the previous month. The decline was close to Wall Street expectations for a drop of 1.5 per cent.
The fall reflected a revised 2.5 per cent drop in orders for expensive, long-lasting durable goods and a 0.2 per cent drop in goods expected to last less than three years.
The report showed a decline in orders in several categories. Demand for transportation equipment tumbled 1.3 per cent and orders for computers and electronic products plunged 10.7 per cent.
Orders of non-defence capital goods excluding aircraft, which economists use to gauge business spending plans, fell 5.1 per cent.
One bright spot in the report was machinery orders, which climbed 2.1 per cent.
While the report points to weakness in manufacturing, other recent data have indicated the sector's fortunes may be improving. A report last week from the Institute for Supply Management showed factory activity grew at the fastest rate in 20 years in December.