Factory Orders Rise in August, Commerce Reports

rders placed with U.S. factories rose 2.5% in August to $395.2 billion, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The increase followed a revised 2.5% drop in July originally reported as a 1.9% decline, Commerce said.

The trucking industry relies on factory orders and shipments for much of its business.

conomists expected August factory orders to rise 2%, Bloomberg reported.

Booking for durable goods, which account for just over half of total orders, rose 3.4%, the fourth increase in five months, after a 5.4% drop in July.

Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for future business investment, rose 3.1% following a 3.9% drop in July.

on-durable goods orders, including petroleum, textiles and industrial chemicals, rose 1.6% following a 1% rise in July.

he inventory-to-shipments ration, a measure of how long goods remain unsold, fell to 1.18 months, the lowest since December, from 1.2 months in July.

Unfilled orders rose 1.6% in August and are up 10% over the previous year.