Factory Orders Drop For Second Month

A second straight decline in factory orders for durable goods in December helped trim the 1996 gain to the smallest in three years.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that orders for durable goods - products such as aircraft and appliances expected to last more than three years - fell by an identical 1.7 percent in both November and December.

As a result, orders for all of 1996 rose just 5.5 percent, down from 7.2 percent in 1995 and the smallest increase since a 5.4 percent gain in 1993.