US factory orders up 1.8 percent in December
Economics Writer In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, photo, FedEx workers sort packages at the Oakland Regional Sort Facility in Oakland, Calif. US factory orders increased 1.8 percent in December from November when orders had fallen 0.3 percent.
Orders to US factories fell for a second straight month, a worse-than-expected performance that provides further evidence that a housing slowdown and credit crunch are raising risks of a recession.The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that factory orders dropped by 1.3 percent in February, about double the downturn that economists had been expecting.