The Commerce Department confirmed that the U.S. saw an anticipated increase in new orders for manufactured products this past December. Factory orders experienced a modest rise of 0.2 percent, consistent with forecasts and following a significant surge of 2.6 percent in November.
Orders for non-durable goods also contributed to this growth, with an increase of 0.4 percent overriding a minor decrease in durable goods orders. Reports show that shipments of manufactured goods remained essentially the same in December, following a 0.5 percent increase in November.
In terms of inventory, there was only a slight 0.1 percent increase in December, maintaining the steady levels seen in the previous month. Consequently, the ratio of inventories-to-shipments remained steady from November to December, holding steady at 1.48.
