Dec 5 (Reuters) - The service sector continued to grow in November as new orders rose, a private survey said on Thursday, while factory orders were up in October for the second straight month.

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FACTORY ORDERS:

STORY: TABLE

KEY POINTS: * New orders received by U.S. factories unexpectedly rose in October as demand for motor vehicles and a range of other goods offset a slump in defense and civilian aircraft orders, a hopeful sign for the manufacturing sector. * The Commerce Department said orders for factory goods increased 0.8 percent after a revised 4.5 percent rise in September. It was the second straight month of gains and beat economists' expectations for a flat reading. * The Institute for Supply Management said its services index rose to 54.7 last month from 54.2 the month before. The reading topped economists' forecasts for growth of 53.5, according to a Reuters survey.

COMMENTS: JOSEPH TREVISANI, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, WORLDWIDE MARKETS, WOODCLIFF LAKE, NEW JERSEY

'The much larger service side of the U.S. economy remains relatively healthy. It has so far avoided the contraction in manufacturing, but worse is probably coming in the first quarter of next year as the economy continues to slow.'

MARKET REACTION:

STOCKS: U.S. stock indexes were flat BONDS: U.S. bond prices were little changed FOREX: The dollar added to gains against the yen

(Americas Economics and Markets Desk; +1-646 223-6300)

Keywords: USA ECONOMY/INSTANT

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