February Factory Orders Rise 0.2%, Commerce Reports

March 31, 2005 10:30 AM, EST

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rders placed with factories rose 0.2% in February, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The increase to $380.4 billion matched January’s 0.2% rise but fell short of analysts’ projections of 0.5% for February, Bloomberg reported.

Rising orders translate to more demand for trucking services because factories use trucks to ship raw materials and finished products.

Excluding transportation equipment, factory orders fell 0.1%, Commerce said.

Transportation orders including motor vehicles and commercial aircraft rose 1.6% following a 6.3% decline a month earlier. Commercial aircraft orders surged 32%, Commerce said.

Factory demand for equipment and consumer goods may be cooling as businesses face higher energy and borrowing costs, Bloomberg reported.

Bookings for durable goods, which account for about 55% of total orders, rose 0.5%, led by bookings for commercial aircraft and computers. Durables orders fell 1.2% in January.

Commerce also said that February factory inventories rose 0.5% to $477.5 billion, following a 1.5% rise in January.