Revision Doubles December’s Gain in Factory Orders

U.S. factories were receiving more new business in December than originally thought, although strength in November was weaker, the Commerce Department said Monday.

The department issued new figures for demand for manufactured goods for the past four years based on an annual “benchmark revision” to the data.

For December, the revised estimate showed that orders for manufactured factory products, after adjusting for seasonal variations, shot up 3.2%, double the previously reported 1.6% rise.

However, the strength in November was reduced substantially to a gain of 0.8% instead of the 3.6% rise previously reported.

For all of 1986, the revised figures show that new orders totaled $2.27 trillion, down 0.6% from the 1985 total. Originally, orders were reported to have been essentially unchanged.