New orders received by U.S. factories slumped a greater-than-expected 3.9 percent in December, the fifth monthly decline in a row for manufacturers hit hard by the deep U.S. recession, a government report showed on Thursday. Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting orders to decline 3 percent. The drop in factory orders was a more modest rate than in November, which was revised down to a 6.5 percent plunge, the steepest dive since the government began collecting the data in 1992. Five straight months of declining factory orders are unprecedented in the report. An indicator of business confidence fell, as non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft slipped by 3.2 percent. The rise in factory orders for all of 2008 of 0.4 percent was the weakest showing since a 1.8 percent decline in 2002. Inventories of manufactured durable goods rose in December to the highest level on record.

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