That was well off from expectations. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had projected a 1.2% increase. Declining orders for military equipment was the primary cause. Orders for defense capital goods fell 35.6% on the month. Excluding the volatile defense category, overall orders were up 0.8% in November. A proxy for business investment only inched ahead last month. New orders for nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft, rose 0.1% in November. Through 11 months this year, those orders were up 0.7% from the same period in 2018, or rising less than the rate of inflation. The report covers orders placed in November, ahead of a string of economic news in recent weeks that was largely seen as positive for manufacturers. That included progress in trade talks with China , finalizing a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico and Congress passing a defense-spending bill . Durable orders for October […]