German factory orders declined slightly more than expected in December, dragged down by lower demand at home and in other eurozone countries.
Advertisement
The Commerce Department said factory orders tumbled by 2.9% in December after falling by 0.7% in November.
In December, the shipment index fell 1.4% following a fall of 0.1% in November 2015. This unfilled orders report followed a 0.1% increase in the month of November.
The Commerce Department also said shipments of manufactured goods slid by 1.4 percent in December after edging down by 0.1 percent in November. In December, inventories rose 0.2%, indicating an accumulation of unwanted stocks by manufacturers.
Inventories, up following five consecutive monthly decreases, increased $1.0 billion or 0.2% to $642.3 billion.
What stands out is that new orders for transportation goods fell by 12.6% month over month, and virtually all the drop came in the category of defense and non-defense aircraft and parts where the drops were almost 69% and 30%, respectively.
Orders to U.S. factories fell sharply in December as manufacturing continued to contract from a slowing domestic economy and weak overseas demand, sparking fresh fears of anemic growth in the United States.
Advertisement
The inventories-to-shipments ratio subsequently climbed to 1.38 in December from 1.35 in the previous month. A survey on Monday showed that although manufacturing contracted in January for a fourth straight month, activity ticked up as new orders rebounded.
