Orders in the volatile military category fell 7.9 percent, to $7.8 billion.

When military orders, a volatile category, are excluded, the decline was still a steep 5.4 percent.

But analysts said this swing in a volatile category was not worrisome.

The September gain in orders came despite a decline of 2.9 percent in the volatile military category.

This time, however, the inflation is broader than fuel and the other notoriously volatile category, food.

The sharp rise in producer prices, however, came largely on a 1.5 percent increase in energy costs, an often volatile category.

Over all, the volatile military category shot up 78.6 percent, the biggest increase since December 1982.

Prices were up half a percent over all, but they rose only one-tenth of a percent without the two volatile categories.

The volatile category of energy prices registered the most signifciant declines in October.

Memory can be split into two main categories: volatile and nonvolatile.