Wall Street Journal (12/23/15) Ben Leubsdorf; Josh Mitchell

Orders for durable goods were flat in November and a key measure of business investment declined, signalling lackluster demand in the U.S. manufacturing sector. New orders for durable goods were largely unchanged in November from October on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast orders would decline 0.6%.

Military spending helped shore up the November reading. Orders for defense capital goods rose 44.4% in November including a 46.9% increase in orders for defense aircraft and parts. Excluding defense, orders for durable goods declined 1.5% in November after increasing 3.0% in October. Excluding the transportation sector, durable goods declined 0.1% in November from the prior month after rising 0.5% in October.

Orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft dropped 0.4% in November from October after rising by a downwardly revised 0.6% in October.