More Videos
- Home Prices Decline Further In Most Parts of US
- Ponzi Proceeds: Bidding on Madoff's Toys
- Jobless Rate to Hit 10.5%, Keeping Fed in Box: Poll
- Credit Card Firms Squeeze Customers as Rules Loom
- Trustee Seeks Billions for Madoff Investors
- Quiz: Do You Know Your Coca-Cola Myths?
- New Lows for Stocks Next Year: Equities Bear
- 'Peak Oil' Closer Than IEA Forecasts Show: Report
- Mortgage Modification Program Shows Improvement
- If Mickey Mouse Has to Change—What Does That Say About You?
- Nov. 10: S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Passive Job Search Strategies
- Back Off, Regulators!
- America Is On Sale
- Warren Buffett and the Crisis: 'Brilliant Moves Interspersed with Some Surprising Errors'
- Schork Oil Outlook: More Strength in Crude
- Chrysler Makes Smart Call Staying Unplugged—For Now
- Your Next Move: Thriving and Managing in Limbo
MOST SHARED
- 'Peak Oil' Closer Than IEA Forecasts Show: Report
- Pociask: In The Electronics War Does The Consumer Really Win?
- Jobless Rate to Hit 10.5%, Keeping Fed in Box: Poll
- AIG Moving Toward Repaying Bailout: Moody's
- News Corp. May Pull Content From Google Searches
- Health-Care Reform Does Little To Contain Costs: Analysts
- Home Prices Sank Further In Most Parts of US in 3rd Quarter
- Trader Tax Sound Off
- America Is On Sale
Text Size 
New orders received by U.S. factories plummeted for a third straight month in October, according to data on Thursday that underlined the drop in manufacturing output as the economy grinds through a recession.
 |
AP |
Overall factory orders plunged 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted $407 billion, according to a Commerce Department report. That was the biggest drop since July 2000 and more than the 4.0 percent decline that Wall Street economists had forecast. It followed a revised 3.1 percent drop in September that was previously reported as 2.5 percent.
"It just continues the string of weaker than expected data ... (and) reinforces the overall picture of the slowing in the U.S. economy led by the manufacturing sector," said Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist for Forex.com in Bedminster, New Jersey.
The picture was not much brighter when transportation orders were excluded, with orders down 4.2 percent in October after a record 4.3 percent drop in September.
New orders for consumer goods fell 5.0 percent in October, as shoppers tightened their belts in the face of grim economic news. Orders for motor vehicles and parts fell 4.5 percent, following a big slump in sales.
Economists said the manufacturing output decline reflected weak demand both at home and abroad.
"Basically we went from an ability to export with a vengeance to a rapid decline. Consumer and business investments are very weak. We are in recession and this confirms that," said Kurt Karl, chief U.S. economist at Swiss Re in New York.
U.S. equity indexes were little changed after the data, while the dollar held on to gains versus the euro. Longer-dated U.S. Treasuries also held on to their gains.
"I think the market has done a good job shrugging things off for the past week or so. (But) eventually the market will react and you will see the market pull back some. I think we'll test the lows again -- I don't know when that is," said Warren Simpson, managing director at Stephen's Capital Management in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Print
Email
- From politicians to CEOs to companies, here's your chance to vote for the winners and losers of 2009.
- What’s powering your microwave, fridge and computer? Part of it is fuel from Russian nuclear weapons. The NYT reports.
- With prices well below peak, gems could add some sparkle to your investments.
- Do free market libertarians really believe what they say about ethics and shareholder value? The Big Money takes a look.
- On the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, many in the former Eastern Bloc recall communism fondly.
- The opening of a virtual pet store in “World of Warcraft” could prove a cash bonanza for Activision-Blizzard.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes