Manufacturing & The Economy

Factory Orders Down in January, Beat Forecasts

New orders for manufactured goods in January, down two of the last three months, decreased $9.6 billion or 2% to $472.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. This followed a 1.3% December increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.3%.

Investors translate this 2% drop into a 7.2% increase in business investment.

Shipments, down two consecutive months, decreased $1.0 billion or 0.2% to $481.8 billion. This followed a slight December decrease.

New orders for manufactured durable goods in January, down following four consecutive monthly increases, decreased $11.2 billion or 4.9% to $217.3 billion, revised from the previously published 5.2% decrease. This followed a 3.6% December increase.