Orders for factory-made goods in the United States increased by 1% in October, according to US Commerce Department data on Monday, raising hopes for the manufacturing sector, which has been struggling from pandemic-related measures' supply chain woes
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2022) Orders for factory-made goods in the United States increased by 1% in October, according to US Commerce Department data on Monday, raising hopes for the manufacturing sector, which has been struggling from pandemic-related measures' supply chain woes.
The increase was the twelfth in 13 months for factory orders versus manufacturing, which contracted in November for the first time in two-and-a-half years, according to a measure by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).
Separately, the ISM-tracked services sector showed on Monday a reading of 56.5 in November versus 53.3 in October. Economists had predicted a flat ISM reading for the last month.
"This is a tough time for forecasting the US economy," economist Adam Button said in a post on the ForexLive forum. "In the space of 15 minutes there were two reports on the US service sector; one said the US economy was contracting at a 1% clip, the other showed an economy accelerating."
The US economy sputtered in the first two quarters of the year, with back-to-back negative growths of 1.6% and 0.6% in GDP that placed the nation in a recession. Third-quarter GDP, however, came in at 2.6%, raising questions of whether another economic slowdown was likely or a soft-landing was possible instead.
Breaking down Monday's factory orders data, the Commerce Department said durable-goods orders rose a revised 1.1% in October compared with the initial estimate of a 1% gain. Orders for non-durable goods were up 1% in the month.
Orders for non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft, rose a revised 0.6% in October, down slightly from the initial estimate of a 0.7% drop.
