WASHINGTON – The value of new factory orders rose 0.1% in December, well below the 0.9% increase expected by analysts in an MNI survey and the Bloomberg consensus for a 0.8% gain, data released by the Commerce Department Wednesday morning showed.
Durable goods orders were revised up to a 1.2% gain from the 0.1% decrease reported in the advance estimate. Nondurable goods orders down 1.0% on declines in petroleum and coal products, beverages, and food products. Nondurable goods new orders are equivalent to nondurable goods shipments in this report.
Factory orders excluding transportation were down 0.6% in the month following a 1.3% decline in November, interrupting the string of gains that stretches back for most of the past two years. Durables orders excluding transportation were revised up to a 0.1% gain from the flat reading in the advance report.
In addition, unfilled orders were -0.1% in December, showing a slight decline in demand for manufactured goods.
Transportation orders were up 3.2% in December, revised up from the advance estimate. The unlisted transportation components were up 3.7% in the month, based on an MNI calculation.
Nondefense capital goods new orders up by 3.4%, however they were down 1.0% when excluding aircraft.
Factory inventories posted a flat reading in December. In addition to this, the Commerce Department's advance report on inventories showed a 1.1% gain for wholesale inventories and a 0.9% gain in retail inventories.
While these data are eligible for revision, the levels as they stand now, combined with the flat reading in factory inventories, would result in a 0.6% gain in December business inventories when that report is released on March 11, an MNI calculation showed.
Overall factory shipments were down 0.2% in the month despite a 0.7% increase for durable goods shipments. The decline was driven by a 1.0% decline in nondurable shipments. Nondefense capital goods shipments increased by 0.1%, but were flat after excluding the civilian aircraft component.
Given the mix of inventories and shipments reported Wednesday, the inventory-to-shipments ratio was unchanged at 1.35 from November.
