November Factory Orders Hit 2nd-Highest Level of ’89

Factory orders rebounded in November from two months of consecutive declines, rising 2.4% to the second highest level all year, the government reported on Friday.

Analysts said the report showed that the longest peacetime economic expansion is continuing.

“This confirms our expectations that the economy won’t drop into a recession,” said Thomas Runiewicz, an economist with the WEFA Group, a Bala-Cynwyd, Pa., forecasting organization. “We’re going to see a slowdown, but no recession.”

Gordon Richards, economic policy director for the National Assn. of Manufacturers, agreed with Runiewicz’s assessment.

“It pretty much conclusively demonstrates that we are not heading into a recession,” Richards said.

The Commerce Department said orders for both durable and non-durable manufactured goods jumped 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted $239.7 billion, after edging down 0.1% in October.

They had declined 1% in September.

It was the highest level of orders since a record $239.9 billion was posted in April and the fastest rate of increase since a 2.8% advance in August.

The report was a bright spot in what has become a mixed picture of the manufacturing economy.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the manufacturing sector lost another 25,000 jobs in December, raising to 195,000 the number of factory jobs lost since March.

However, orders for durable goods--where much of the manufacturing weakness has been concentrated--posted a 4.8% increase to $130.2 billion, after a slip of 0.8% in October. Increases were widespread within all the major categories.