After reporting a steep drop in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing a notable rebound in factory orders in the month of December.
The Commerce Department said factory orders jumped by 1.8 percent in December after plunging by a revised 1.9 percent in November.
Economists had expected factory orders to surge by 2.2 percent compared to the 1.8 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.
The rebound by factory orders came as durable goods orders spiked by 5.6 percent in December after tumbling by 1.8 percent in November, with orders for transportation equipment leading the rebound.
Meanwhile, the report said orders for non-durable goods slumped by 1.9 percent in December after plunging by 2.1 percent in November.
The Commerce Department also said shipments of manufactured goods slid by 0.7 percent in December following a 0.9 percent decrease in November.
Inventories of manufactured goods rose by 0.4 percent in December after coming in virtually unchanged in the previous month.
With inventories rising and shipments falling, the inventories-to-shipments rate edged up to 1.49 in December from 1.47 in November.
