Month’s durable-goods orders up 1.3%
Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rose last month by 1.3 percent, boosted by orders for commercial and defense aircraft. A category that measures business investment slipped for the first time since June.
The increase in orders for durable goods — products meant to last at least three years — comes after a 0.4 percent decline in October, the Commerce Department said Friday. October’s drop followed solid gains in September and August.
American industry continues to look healthy, helped by an improving world economy and a lower dollar, which makes U.S.-made products less expensive to buy around the world.
Orders for commercial aircraft — a category that swings wildly from month to month — rose 14.5 percent in November. That comes on the heels of a 15.8 percent decline in October. Orders for defense aircraft also bounced
back, up 11.9 percent after a 7.3 percent decline in October. Orders for machinery fell 1.1 percent, the biggest drop since a 1.4 percent decline in May of 2016.
Orders for motor vehicles and parts rose 1.4 percent after a 1.6 percent increase. Excluding the volatile transportation category, orders fell 0.1 percent, the first downturn since a 0.4 decline in April.
October’s figure for durable-goods orders was upgraded; orders fell 0.4 percent,
better than the previously reported 1.2 percent decline.
The category that tracks business investment fell 0.1 percent in November, its first negative reading since June; October’s reading for the business investment category was revised upward from a 0.5 percent decline to a 0.8 percent gain.
Core capital-goods orders advanced at an 18 percent annualized rate in the three months through November, and those shipments moved ahead at a 14.9 percent pace. The data indicate spending on equipment will provide more fuel for economic growth after
a third-quarter contribution that was the most in two years.
Boeing Co., one of the world’s largest airplane-makers, said it received 159 orders for planes last month, up from 64 the previous month. Deliveries for the month totaled 70 aircraft, up from 56. Industry data don’t always correlate with the government statistics on a month-to-month basis.