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U.S. factory orders unexpectedly fall in August
New orders for U.S.-made goods unexpectedly fell in August, and business spending on equipment appeared to decline in the third quarter.
The Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Thursday that factory orders fell 0.2 percent after a slightly downwardly revised 4.9 percent increase in July. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory orders remaining flat after a reported 5 percent increase in July.
Factory orders rose 0.3 percent in August from a year earlier.
The government also said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, seen as a proxy for business spending on machinery, rose 0.3 percent in August instead of the previously reported 0.2 percent gain.
Shipments of core capital goods fell 0.1 percent instead of the 0.1 percent gain reported last month. Non-defense capital goods orders fell 1.3 percent, as initially expected.
Shipments of those goods fell 1.8% instead of the 1.6% initially expected. These shipments are included in business spending on machinery and equipment in the gross domestic product report. That suggests business investment in equipment slowed in the third quarter after double-digit growth in the April-June quarter.
