US Factory Orders Increase 1% In October

US factory orders rose $5.1 billion, or 1%, to $522.1 billion in October, its 17th increase in 18 months, the Commerce Department said Friday.

The market expectation was an increase of 0.5%, while the gain in September was revised up from 0.2% to 0.5%, which had stood at $517.1 billion.

New orders for manufactured durable goods in October, however, were down for the second month in a row, decreasing by $1.1 billion, or 0.4%, to $260.3 billion.

Most of the decline in durable goods came from transportation equipment, which fell $2 billion, or 2.6%, to $75.3 billion. -