New orders for manufactured durable goods in December increased 3.1 percent to 221.9 billion dollars, the strongest gain since September, the Commerce Department reported on Friday.

Orders for commercial aircraft surged by 26.5 percent due to the 212 plane orders that Boeing Co. booked during the month. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 2.3 percent.

Shipments of manufactured durable goods in December, up four of the last five months, increased 0.8 percent to 211.6 billion dollars. This followed a 0.3 percent November increase.

Inventories of manufactured durable goods in December, up eleven of the last twelve months, increased 0.4 percent to 296.0 billion dollars. This followed a 0.3 percent November increase.

For all of 2006, new orders expanded by 7 percent, a slight slowdown from an 8.6 percent increase in 2005.

Source: Xinhua