(RTTNews) – After reporting sharp increases in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods over the past few months, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing factory orders climbed less than expected in the month of August.
The Commerce Department said factory orders rose by 0.7 percent in August after soaring by an upwardly revised 6.5 percent in July.
Economists had expected orders to jump by 1.0 percent compared to the 6.4 percent spike originally reported for the previous month.
The report said orders for durable goods increased by 0.5 percent, while orders for non-durable goods climbed by 0.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said shipments of manufactured goods edged up by 0.3 percent in August after jumping by 4.7 percent in July.
Inventories of manufactured goods were virtually unchanged in August after falling by 0.6 percent in the previous month.
With inventories and shipments both little changed, the inventories-to-shipments ratio for August was unchanged from July at 1.43.
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