Manufacturers of long-lasting goods made more heavy cuts last month, with 46,000 positions eliminated.

Not only does this lower production costs, but it ensures future sales opportunities by preventing the market from becoming saturated with high-quality, long-lasting goods.

Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods skidded 4 percent in April, the third consecutive decline, the Commerce Department reported.

Orders for long-lasting goods like cars and refrigerators weakened in February in an economy that was troubled by recession and war, the Commerce Department said today.

New orders to factories for long-lasting goods leaped 10.7 percent in July, the biggest increase in nearly 21 years, the Commerce Department said today.

Led by plunging demand for aircraft, orders to United States factories for expensive, long-lasting goods fell 1 percent in October, the first drop in three months.

The surprisingly robust performance, which was broad-based, lifted orders for long-lasting goods to $134.5 billion, the highest level in four years.

Bonds also derived some early strength from the Government's monthly report yesterday on production of long-lasting goods, which showed a sharp decline in May.

Commercial aircraft orders increased 164.9 percent, and orders for other long-lasting goods as a whole climbed 5.5 percent in the month.

And orders for long-lasting goods like cars and crockpots also posted fairly robust gains of 2.8 percent in October, according to the Commerce Department.