Factory Orders Rise

ByJohn S. McClenahen Although new orders for manufactured durable goods decreased even more than first estimated, overall new orders for U.S. manufactured goods increased 0.5% in October to $371.5 billion, the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Dec. 2. New orders for durables, generally big ticket items designed to last three years or more, fell by $2.3 billion or 1.1% to $195.2 billion in October. Commerce had earlier reported a decline of only $900 million. New orders for computers and electronic products, which had risen the two previous months, had the biggest percentage decrease among durables, falling $2.4 billion or 6.5% to $34.5 billion. New orders for manufactured durables increased $4.2 billion or 2.4% to $176.3 billion in October.