Name cannot begin with '>' character when setting DataType of DataColumn

I'm trying to set the datatype of my DataColumn like this:
DataColumn dtColumn = new DataColumn(strOutputCol); dtColumn.DataType = System.Type.GetType("System.Decimal"); PivotDataTable.Columns.Add(dtColumn);
But I get an error that says Name cannot begin with '>' character.
 
Has anyone seen this error and know what to do? 
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