Durable Goods Orders Declined 0.9% in December
January 27 2022 - 8:27AM
Dow Jones News
By David Harrison
New orders for appliances, cars, computers and other durable
goods fell in December, as manufacturers continue to struggle with
supply and labor shortages and higher prices.
New orders for products meant to last at least three years
decreased 0.9% to a seasonally adjusted $267.6 billion in December
from November, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Economists
surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.6%
decline.
Orders increased 3.2% in November from the prior month, up from
an earlier estimate for that month that had shown a 2.5%
increase.
Deplenished business and retail inventories have translated to
increased demand for manufacturers, but supply-chain bottlenecks
continue to constrain production and delay some shipments. The
Omicron variant of Covid-19, which caused case counts to rise
rapidly in December, has also kept workers out of the labor
force.
New orders for nondefense capital goods excluding
aircraft-so-called core capital-goods, a closely watched proxy for
business investment, were flat in December compared with the
previous month.
Write to David Harrison at david.harrison@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 27, 2022 09:12 ET (14:12 GMT)
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