U.S. factory orders continues to fall in January

U.S. factory orders had kept falling for six consecutive months by January, the U.S. Commerce Department said in a report Thursday.

In January, new orders for manufactured goods lost 0.9 billion U.S. dollars, or 0.2 percent, to 470 billion dollars, the report said. This followed a 3.5 percent decrease in December.

Transportation equipment orders, which include both aircraft and vehicles, following two consecutive monthly decreases, increased 9.7 percent to 72.6 billion dollars. Transportation orders are frequently volatile and are often stripped out to get a clearer view of underlying trends. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 1.8 percent.

Following a 0.9 percent decrease in December, shipments went down 2 percent to 479.1 billion dollars in the month.

Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded at a slower pace in recent months. A recent industry survey showed that economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector slowed in February to its weakest pace in more than a year. Endite