Washington, D.C. – According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Economics and Statistics Administration, new orders for manufactured durable goods in December 2008 fell 2.6%, to $176.8 billion.  Overall shipments declined 0.7% in December, to $191.3 billion, while capital goods shipments declined 1.1%, to $73.7 billion.  Inventories rose 0.4%, to $343.5 billion.  For the full year 2008, new orders for manufactured durable goods fell 5.7%, overall shipments declined 2.7%, capital goods shipments rose 2.0% and inventories increased 7.0%