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M. Continuo

Durable goods orders fall again in November


    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New orders for long-lasting manufactured goods fell 1 percent in November, a less severe drop than anticipated though it followed a steeply revised plunge in October orders, a government report on Wednesday showed.

    The Commerce Department now estimates that October orders plummeted by 8.4 percent instead of 6.9 percent it previously reported, for the biggest monthly decline since a 14 percent drop in July 2000.

    The fall in November orders was less than the 3 percent decline that analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast.

    Much of November's overall orders drop was concentrated in transportation equipment, where orders fell 7.4 percent after a 12.7 percent October decline. Excluding transportation, orders in November were up 1.2 percent after falling 6.8 percent in October as orders rose in November for computers, machinery and fabricated metal products.