U.S. Factory Orders Inch Up In Line With Estimates In January

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed a slight increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the month of January.

The Commerce Department said factory orders crept up by 0.1 percent in January after falling by 0.4 percent in December. The uptick matched economist estimates.

The modest increase in factory orders came as orders for non-durable goods rose by 0.3 percent in January after inching up by 0.1 percent in December.

Meanwhile, the report said orders for durable goods were virtually unchanged in January after slumping by 0.9 percent in December.

The Commerce Department also said shipments of manufactured goods increased by 0.5 percent in January after climbing by 0.7 percent in December.

Inventories of manufactured goods also crept up by 0.1 percent in January, matching the uptick seen in the previous month.

With shipments rising by more than inventories, the inventories-to-shipments ratio edged down to 1.55 in January from 1.56 in December.