The U.S.
Commerce Department reported on Friday that the value of new factory orders jumped
2.6 per cent m-o-m in November, following an upwardly revised
3.4 per cent m-o-m plunge (from -3.6 per cent m-o-m) in October. This represented the sharpest
monthly gain in factory orders since
January 2021 (+3.8 per cent m-o-m).
Economists had predicted
a rise of 2.1 per cent m-o-m for November.
According to
the report, orders for durable goods soared 5.4 per cent m-o-m in November,
driven by a 15.3 per cent m-o-m surge in
transportation equipment. Meanwhile, orders for nondurable goods were flat m-o-m.
Total factory
orders excluding transportation, a volatile part of the overall reading, inched
up 0.1 per cent m-o-m (compared to a downwardly revised 1.3 per cent m-o-m decrease
(from -1.2 per cent m-o-m) in October), while orders for nondefense capital
goods excluding aircraft, a measure of business spending plans, grew 0.8 per
cent m-o-m (compared to a 0.6 per cent m-o-m decrease in October and matching last month’s estimate).
The report also
revealed that shipments of core capital goods dropped 0.2 per cent m-o-m in November, rather
than slipping 0.1 per cent m-o-m as previously reported.