New orders for durable goods increased 0.7% to $220.9 billion for November, according to a U.S. Department of Commerce report released today . For the same period, inventories bumped up 0.2% to $347.7 billion, the highest level since data was first collected in 1992 .
Source: Census.gov
In October, new orders jumped 1.1%, and have been on the rise for six of the last seven months . Machinery orders went up the most, increasing by $1.0 billion (3.3%) for November .
Transportation equipment inventories have continued to steadily increase, up 34 of the last 35 months. November's 0.7% gain to $114.3 billion (30.5% of total durable goods inventories) is also the highest since data was first collected .
Compared to Nov. 2011, new orders increased by 0.5% and inventories are up 4.6%.
