July Factory Orders Fall 1.9%, Commerce Reports

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he number of orders placed with U.S. factories fell 1.9% in July to $387.8 billion, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

The increase followed a 0.9% rise in June originally reported at 1%, Commerce said. The trucking industry relies on factory orders and shipments for much of its business.

Excluding transportation equipment, factory orders dropped 0.5% following a 1.5% rise ih June that had originally been reported as a 1.3% gain.

Economists said that the decrease, which followed two months of increases, did not change their expectations that manufacturing is strengthening, Bloomberg reported. Analysts had forecast a 2.3% drop in July, Bloomberg said.

Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for future business investment, fell 4.1% following a 4.9% rise in June.

Non-durable goods orders, including petroleum, textiles and industrial chemicals, rose 1.7% following a 0.2% decline in June.

The inventory-to-shipments ration, a measure of how long goods remain unsold, held at 1.19 months in July.

Unfilled orders rose 1% in July after a 2.8% increase in June, which also suggested rising production in coming months, Bloomberg said.