On Tuesday, the Department of Commerce revealed a sharp decline in new orders for U.S. produced goods in January. The report indicated that factory orders had fallen by 3.6% after a revised drop of 0.3% in December.
Economic forecasters had predicted a decline of 2.9% in factory orders, a figure that stands in contrast to the 0.2% increase initially reported for the month prior. During the month, the Department of Commerce stated orders for durable goods plummeted by 6.2%, while those for non-durable goods faltered by 1.1%.
