Factory orders tanked in December
Not a huge surprise: Factory orders dipped 3.9 percent in December, according to the Commerce Department. Associated Press reports:
Analysts are forecasting that manufacturers will continue to face hard times in the coming year because of a deepening U.S. recession and weakness this has spread worldwide, cutting sharply into demand for U.S. exports.
For December, demand for durable goods, products expected to last at least three years, fell by 3 percent, even worse than the 2.6 percent drop that the goverment initially reported last week.
Demand for non-durable goods, products such as food, paper and petroleum, fell by 4.8 percent in December following an 8.7 percent fall in November. Some of this decline reflects the big drop in energy prices that has occurred in recent months.
Be glad you’re not Boeing: Demand for commercial aircraft fell by 43.8 percentt.