U.S. Factory Orders Fall Less Than Expected In December

(RTTNews) - New orders for U.S. manufactured goods showed a notable pullback in the month of December, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday, with the decrease largely due to a steep drop in orders for transportation equipment.

The report said factory orders fell by 1.5 percent in December following a revised 1.5 percent increase in November. Economists had expected to drop by about 1.8 percent compared to the 1.8 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding the 9.7 percent decrease in orders for transportation equipment, factory orders actually edged up by 0.2 percent in December.