New orders for U.S. manufactured goods pulled back sharply in the month of January, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Monday.
The Commerce Department said factory orders slumped by 1.6 percent in January after surging by a downwardly revised 1.7 percent in December.
Economists had expected factory orders to tumble by 1.8 percent compared to the 1.8 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.
The steep drop by factory orders largely reflected a substantial pullback by durable goods orders, which plunged by 4.5 percent in January after soaring by 5.1 percent in December.
Meanwhile, the report said orders for non-durable goods shot up by 1.5 percent in January after slumping by 1.7 percent in December.
The Commerce Department also shipments of manufactured goods increased by 0.7 percent in January after falling by 0.6 percent in December.
Inventories of manufactured goods were virtually unchanged in January after climbing by 0.4 percent in the previous month.
Subsequently, the report said the inventories-to-shipments ratio edged down to 1.48 in January from 1.49 in December.
