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New orders for manufactured goods increased 1.6% from October to November, from $523.4 billion to a record $531.8 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The figure marks the seventh straight month of increases.

Equipment orders up: In the same period, transportation equipment orders rose 6.5%, “buoyed by a sharp rise in nondefense aircraft and parts sales, which can be highly volatile from month to month,” said NAM Chief Economist Chad Moutray.

Factory shipments: Factory shipments increased 0.7% to an all-time high, from $523.5 billion in October to $527.0 billion in November.

Good news: “Overall, the manufacturing sector continues to expand strongly—despite lingering supply chain, workforce and pricing pressures—with new orders soaring 13.6% year to date,” Moutray continued.

• While orders for core capital goods—a proxy for capital spending in the U.S. economy—remained essentially flat from October to November, such orders increased 10.0% through the first 11 months of 2021.