By Sandi Alexander
Washington, Nov. 2 (FWN) - U.S. factory orders plunged 5.8% in September, closely matching economists' expectations for a 5.0% decline, and following a 0.1% decline from Augusts unchanged. Excluding transportation, factory orders fell 4.0% in September, while factory inventories fell 0.9%.
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Septembers non-durable goods shipments, a proxy for non-durable goods orders, were down 2.6% after a revised 0.6 rise the month before, the Commerce Department said.
September's orders for durable goods were remained down 8.5%, the same as reported in the Oct. 25 preliminary report on durable goods (see story 4726).

WHAT WAS EXPECTED:
In a Futures World News survey, private analysts forecast September factory orders would be reported in a range of down 6.7% to down 0.4%.

FACTORY INVENTORIES, SHIPMENTS:
--The September fall of 0.9% in manufacturers' inventories followed a 0.7% decline in August. --Factory shipments fell in September, dropping 4.2% , following a revised 0.3% decrease in August.
--The inventory-to-shipments ratio rose to 1.43 in September, compared with August's revised 1.38.
--Unfilled orders also fell down 1.8% in September, compared with a revised 0.9% decrease the prior month.

CAPITAL GOODS SHIPMENTS:
Shipments of non-defense capital goods, excluding aircraft fell 4.0% in September after being reported 2.3% in August. These shipments are a important indicator of trends in capital spending and the contribution of producers' durable equipment purchases to GDP growth.