U.S. Factory Orders Decline in September

.S. factory orders fell 1.7% in September to $390 billion, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

The decline followed a revised 2.9% gain in August that was originally reported as a 2.5% increase, Commerce said.

The downturn was greater than a 1% drop forecast by economists, Bloomberg reported. Excluding transportation equipment, orders fell 1%.

Booking for durable goods, which account for just over half of total orders, fell 2.4% after rising 3.9% in August.

Non-durable goods orders, including petroleum, textiles and industrial chemicals, dropped 0.9% following a 1.8% gain in August.

Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for future business investment, fell 1.5% following a 3.9% gain in August.

Factory inventories fell 0.1% following a 0.2% decline, and inventory-to-shipments ratio, a measure of how long goods remain unsold, rose to 1.18 months from 1.17 months in August.

Unfilled orders rose 0.7% to $594.1 billion, the highest level on record, Bloomberg reported.