By Ovunc Kutlu
ISTANBUL (AA) - US factory orders rose 2.6% in November, coming higher than market estimates, and partially recovering from the steep decline in October, according to Commerce Department figures released Friday.
New orders for manufactured goods increased $14.9 billion to $592.9 billion, up for the third time in the last four months.
The expectation for the figure, which measures the change in the value of new purchase orders placed with manufacturers, was to show an increase of 2.1%.
The figure for October was revised from a decline of 3.6% to a decrease of 3.4%, which stood at $577.9 billion.
New orders for manufactured durable goods in November increased $15 billion, or 5.4%, to reach $295.2 billion – up two of the past three months.
Transportation equipment, also up two of the last three months, led the increase with a gain of $14.3 billion, or 15.3%, to reach $107.8 billion.
New orders for manufactured non-durable goods, on the other hand, decreased $0.1 billion to $297.6 billion.