Orders to U.S. Factories Unchanged as Non-Durables Decrease
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Orders to U.S. factories were little changed in November, depressed by a drop in non-durable goods, masking gains for capital equipment that point to a pickup in business investment in 2013.
Bookings, which include durable and non-durable goods, totaled $477.6 billion in November compared with $477.4 billion the prior month, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Demand for non-defense capital equipment excluding aircraft, a proxy for future spending, climbed 2.6 percent after rising 3 percent in October.