U.S. Feb Factory Orders Fell 0.4%

New orders for goods made by U.S. factories fell 0.4% in February, the Commerce Department said Tuesday in a report more negative than economists had expected.

Since new orders for factory goods are a harbinger of future production and shipments, the report points to further weakness in the truck freight market this spring. It also helps explain why various freight-related companies had complained about demand during March.

Some news services said analysts had looked for a slight gain in February orders, others a scant decrease, but all reported the decline as greater than expected following a sharp 4.3% fall in January orders.

The culprit was orders for durable goods. Commerce revised downward its figures for that category of production to a 0.4% drop from an earlier 0.2% decline. Orders for non-durable goods fell 0.3%.

On Monday, factory purchasing agents said their national activity gauge rose in March but was still mired in a zone that suggests a contraction continues for manufacturing.

Trucking overall can make up for some of the lost shipments from factories by hauling the rising volume of imported goods that compete with U.S.-made products.

However, many trucking operations depend on the health of U.S. manufacturers, so the factory sector’s retrenchment continues to hurt many carriers.

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