New orders for U.S. manufactured goods were nearly unchanged in November, following a 0.8 percent gain in October, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported Friday.
U.S. factory orders increased merely $0.2 billion to a seasonally adjusted $477.6 billion, up in four of the last five months.
New orders for durable goods, big-ticket items such as computers, cars and machinery rose $1.7 billion or 0.8 percent to $220.9 billion in November. That followed an increase of 1.1 percent in October.
New orders for nondurable goods, including food, paper products, petroleum and coal products decreased $1.5 billion or 0.6 percent to $256.7 billion in November.
Manufacturing sector, a bright spot in the U.S. economic recovery, showed weakness recently as worries grew over the " fiscal cliff" which many economists warned would rekindle a recession. The
U.S. Congress struck a deal Tuesday, blocking most of the tax hikes and postponing the automatic spending cuts.
A separate report released Wednesday from the U.S. Institute of
Supply Management showed the manufacturing sector expanded in December, following a month of contraction in November.
