After reporting a bigger than expected jump in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing factory orders once again increased by more than expected in December.
The Commerce Department said factory orders surged up by 1.7 percent in December, matching the upwardly revised jump seen in November.
Economists had expected factory orders to climb by 1.5 percent compared to the 1.3 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
The bigger than expected increase in factory orders was partly due to a spike in durable goods orders, which shot up by 2.8 percent in December after jumping by 1.7 percent in November.
Orders for non-durable goods also climbed by 0.7 percent in December after soaring by 1.6 percent in the previous month.
The report also said shipments of manufactured goods rose by 0.6 percent, while inventories of manufactured goods increased by 0.5 percent.
The inventories-to-shipments ratio subsequently came in at 1.35 in December, unchanged from the previous month.
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