The report said factory orders slumped by 1.3 percent in October after rising by 0.2 percent in September.

The decrease by factory orders came amid a steep drop in orders for durable goods, which tumbled by 2.2 percent in October after climbing by 0.6 percent in September.

Orders for transportation equipment led the sharp pullback by durable goods orders, plunging by 6.4 percent during the month.

The report said orders for non-durable goods also fell by 0.4 percent in October after dipping by 0.2 percent in September.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said shipments of manufactured goods inched up by 0.1 percent in October after edging down by 0.1 percent in September.

Inventories of manufactured goods also crept up by less than a tenth of a percent in October after slipping by 0.1 percent in September.

With inventories and shipments both little changed, the inventories-to-shipments ratio came in at 1.56 in October, unchanged from the previous month.

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