Factory Orders Rise on Transportation Orders

- Factory Orders for November rose 2.5% versus estimates of a 2.4% increase and a 1.7% gain in October.

BOTTOM LINE: US factory orders increased for a second consecutive month in November as airlines ordered more planes, while other businesses recovered from the Gulf Coast hurricanes and rebuilt inventories, Bloomberg reported. Bookings rose for oil equipment, commercial aircraft and computers. An indicator of future business spending, orders for capital goods excluding aircraft, fell 2.1%. The inventory-to-shipments ratio remained at a low 1.18 months. Unfilled orders rose 3% to $621.4 billion, the highest in history. I continue to expect manufacturing to add to US growth over the intermediate-term as businesses gain confidence in the durability of the expansion and inventory/hurricane rebuilding takes hold.