WASHINGTON – New orders for U.S.-manufactured goods rebounded marginally in October while business spending on equipment appeared to have softened early in the fourth quarter.
Factory orders increased 0.2% after a revised 0.2% fall in September, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory orders would rebound 0.2% after a previously reported 0.5% decline in September. Factory orders rose 0.4% on a year-on-year basis in October.
The government also reported that orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, which are seen as a measure of business spending plans on equipment, fell 0.2% in October, as initially reported. Shipments of core capital goods increased 0.3% instead of rising 0.2%, as estimated last month.
Nondefense capital goods orders increased by 1.5% instead of 1.4%, as initially reported. Shipments of those goods declined by 1.8% rather than by the initially estimated 1.9%. Weak shipments suggest softer business investment in equipment in the fourth quarter after two straight quarters of strong growth.
Jennifer Tacker is a staff writer at ABBO News. She holds a B.A. from the University of Waterloo and a B.Ed from Western University. Jennifer has been active in the stock market and crypto sector for a decade. She specializes in technical analysis and trading strategies. Read Full Bio
