Factory Orders Unchanged: Despite huge purchases of...

Factory Orders Unchanged: Despite huge purchases of military goods and commercial aircraft in the weeks leading up to the Persian Gulf War, overall orders to U.S. factories stalled in December and retarded the 1990 total to a meager increase of 1.4%, according to a Commerce Department report. It was the poorest annual performance since 1986 when they fell 1.2%. Economists had expected a big 2.1% rebound in December orders, given the fact that they took their biggest plunge in nearly 16 years in November. Excluding missiles, tanks, ships, and aircraft, orders actually fell 4.7% in December, the department said. It reported that orders for durable and non-durable goods totaled $235.6 billion in December. For the year, orders edged up a meager 1.4%, to $2.9 trillion, the smallest gain since 1986 when orders fell 1.2%. The report also said orders plunged a revised 5.8% in November, the largest drop since a 7% decline in December, 1974.

Factory Orders Total new orders in billions of dollars, seasonally adjusted Dec., ‘90: 235.5 Nov., ‘90: 244.0 Dec., ‘89: 234.1 Source: Commerce Department