The rise in orders for durable goods, items expected to last at least three years, followed much stronger increases of 1.2% November and 1.8% in October, the
Orders for commercial aircraft, hard hit because of the sharp drop in air travel during the pandemic fell 51.8% in December. Separately,
A category that covers business investment plans rose 0.6% following bigger gains of 1% in November and 1.7% in December.
Economists had expected total orders would post a stronger advance of around 1% in December but noted that the overall gain was held back by the big drop in aircraft orders. Excluding transportation orders, total orders rose 0.7% in December, and that followed a 0.8% rise in November.
Even with the slowdown, total orders are close to their pre-pandemic levels. Orders for motor vehicles rose 1.4% in December while demand for defence aircraft jumped 5%.
"The manufacturing sector is fairing fairly well even as virus cases have surged,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief
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