U.S. Factory Orders Jump More Than Expected In November

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday showed new orders for U.S. manufactured goods increased by more than expected in the month of November.

The Commerce Department said factory orders surged up by 1.6 percent in November after jumping by an upwardly revised 1.2 percent in October.

Economists had expected factory orders to shoot up by 1.3 percent compared to the 1.0 percent advance originally reported for the previous month.

The bigger than expected increase in factory orders came as orders for durable goods spiked by 2.6 percent, while orders for non-durable goods rose by 0.7 percent.

The report also showed shipments of manufactured goods increased by 0.7 percent in November after jumping by 2.0 percent in October.

Inventories of manufactured goods also advanced by 0.7 percent in November following a 0.9 percent increase in the previous month.

With inventories and shipments rising at the same rate, the inventories-to-shipments ratio was unchanged from the previous month at 1.46.