
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 7, 1990                   TAG: 9003071892
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: associated press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Short

FACTORY ORDERS TAKE MAJOR DROP

Orders to factories for manufactured goods took their biggest plunge in more than 15 years in January, the government said Tuesday. Analysts described the 5.4 percent drop as temporary and not widespread but said it still indicated an anemic manufacturing economy.

The Commerce Department said orders for durable and non-durable goods fell to a seasonally adjusted $227.7 billion, the steepest drop since they sank 7 percent in December 1974.

A 10.5 percent drop in durable goods orders, to $117.8 billion, led the plunge. A 28.8 percent drop in transportation orders accounted for 85 percent of that. Also down were orders for aircraft, which had shown huge increases the previous two months, and for defense goods.

by CNB