Dec. gain of 1.1% beats views for growth of 0.2%, helped by strong demand for machinery.
February 4, 2004: 10:14 AM EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Orders of U.S. manufactured goods rose in December, the government said Wednesday in a better-than-expected report on the health of the troubled factory sector.
Factory orders climbed 1.1 percent in December, the Commerce Department said, after falling a revised 0.9 percent in the previous month. The increase was far stronger than analyst expectations for a gain of just 0.2 percent.
Orders were helped by a 2.0 percent rise in demand for non-durable goods, while orders for expensive durable goods -- items designed to last three years or more -- climbed a revised 0.3 percent.
A 3.5 percent increase in demand for machinery and a 1.9 percent rise in transportation equipment orders were partly offset by declining orders for electrical equipment and computers and electronic products.
The inventory-to-shipments ratio fell to a record low 1.26 months from 1.28 months.
For all of 2003, factory orders increased 3.9 percent after falling 1.9 percent in 2002.
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