Good News

America still makes stuff! Long-term good news for our economy.

WASHINGTON -- Orders to American factories for big-ticket manufactured goods posted a third consecutive increase in December, closing out a record year for the nation's factories.

The Commerce Department reported that orders for durable goods rose by 1.3 percent in December to $228.1 billion as demand for military aircraft, machinery and autos all posted strong gains. For all of 2005, orders increased by 8.2 percent to an all-time high of $2.51 trillion.