WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. factory orders for manufactured goods rose marginally in November, climbing for the sixth month out of the past seven, the Census Bureau said Friday.
New orders were up by 0.1 percent, increasing by $200 million to $477.6 billion.
The gain fell short of October's increase of 0.8 percent and September's gain of 4.5 percent. The figure also failed to match the consensus expectation, which predicted a gain of 0.4 percent.
New orders for durable goods -- items expected to last three years or more -- rose by $1.7 billion, or 0.8 percent, to $220.9, but orders for non-durable goods dropped 0.6 percent, or by $1.5 billion, to $256.7 billion.
Among durable goods, new orders for machinery had the largest increase, with orders up 3 percent, or $900 million, to $31.9 billion.
New orders for big-ticket transportation slipped. Excluding transportation orders, new factory orders rose 0.2 percent.
