New orders at US factories rose 1.7 per cent in January, in line with expectations, led by a big jump in orders for commercial aircraft, a government report showed today.
Analysts expected orders to increase 1.8 per cent. Factory orders for December were revised up to 1.5 per cent. New orders have risen in nine of the last 10 months.
Transportation equipment orders rose 15 per cent, the biggest increase since July 2009 as orders for commercial aircrafts and parts soared 118.6 per cent.
Excluding transportation, new orders rose just 0.1 per cent. But that was still the sixth consecutive monthly increase.
Inventories increased 0.2 per cent in January, following a 0.2 per cent drop in December. It was the third rise in the last four months.
The inventories-to-shipment ratio was 1.29, unchanged from December.
Reuters