WASHINGTON (AP) – Orders to U.S. factories fell for the first time in five months in November, but much of the weakness reflected a swing in the volatile category of commercial aircraft. A key category that tracks business investment spending posted an increase.
Factory orders dropped 2.4 percent after a 2.8 percent rise in October, the Commerce Department reported Friday. It was the first decline since June but the weakness was led by a 73.8 percent plunge in demand for commercial aircraft following a 94.5 percent surge in October.
A key category that serves as a proxy for business investment spending increased 0.9 percent after a 0.5 percent rise in October. This category has lagged for much of this year as a result of big cutbacks in the oil and gas industry.
Orders for durable goods, items expected to last at least three years, fell 4.5 percent, only a slight revision from a preliminary report showing a drop of 4.6 percent. Orders for nondurable goods such as chemicals, paper and clothing, were down 0.2 percent following a 0.6 percent increase in October.
The 0.9 percent increase in business investment, while still modest, was the third best showing this year, and it marked the first back-to-back gains since July and August.