U.S. factory orders rise less than expected in June

With a drop in orders for non-durable goods partly offsetting a jump in orders for durable goods, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing that new orders for manufactured goods rose by less than expected in the month of June.

The Commerce Department said factory orders increased by 1.5 percent in June following a revised 3.0 percent increase in May. Economists had been expecting orders to rise by about 2.3 percent.

The increase in factory orders in June was largely due to a 3.9 percent increase in orders for durable goods, which came on the heels of a 5.5 percent jump in the previous month.

Orders for transportation equipment drove the increase in durable goods orders, surging up by 12.0 in June after soaring by 15.1 percent in May.

Excluding the jump in orders for transportation equipment, factory orders actually fell by 0.4 percent in June compared to a 1.0 percent increase in May.

The drop in ex-transportation orders in June was partly due to a 0.6 percent drop in orders for non-durable goods, which came on the heels of a 0.8 percent increase in the previous month.

The report also showed that shipments of manufactured goods fell by 0.4 percent in June following a 1.0 percent increase in May. Shipments fell for the third time in the past four months.

Meanwhile, inventories of manufactured goods inched up by 0.1 percent in June after edging down by 0.1 percent in May. Inventories have risen in six of the last seven months.

Even with inventories rising and shipments falling, the inventories-to-shipments ratio was unchanged from the previous month at 1.30 in June.