U.S. factory orders drop for record sixth month

WASHINGTON, March 5 (Chinese media) -- New orders for manufactured goods to factories in the United States dropped by 1.9 percent in January, marking a record sixth straight monthly decline, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

But the January drop was smaller than the 3.5 percent fall that economists had expected and the 4.9 percent plunge in December 2008.

Orders for durable goods, big-ticket items expected to last at least three years such as computers, cars and machinery, dropped by 4.5 percent in January after having plunged 4.6 percent in December.

Demand for transportation equipment, which account for more than a quarter of total durable goods demand, plummeted 9.3 percent, much steeper than the 1.2 percent decline in the previous month.

Excluding volatile transportation products, overall factory orders would have fallen by only 0.9 percent, a big improvement from a 5.4 percent drop in December.

Orders for nondurable goods, including food, paper products, petroleum and coal products, rose by 0.5 percent in January, in contrast to a 5.1 percent decrease in December.

U.S. manufacturers have been battered by the current recession as demand has shrunk both in the United States and in their major overseas markets. They will continue to face hard times before the economy begins to recover, economists believe.

Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector failed to grow in February for the 13th consecutive month, the Institute for Supply Management reported Monday.