Washington (dpa-AFX) – A report released by the Commerce Department on Friday showed new orders for US-manufactured goods pulled back by more than expected in the month of April.
The Commerce Department said factory orders slid by 0.6 per cent in April after surging by an upwardly revised 1.4 per cent in March.
Economists had expected factory orders to edge down by 0.2 per cent compared to the 1.1-per-cent jump originally reported for the previous month.
The bigger-than-expected decrease in factory orders came as orders for durable goods tumbled by 1.3 per cent amid a 6.6-per-cent slump in orders for transportation equipment.
Meanwhile, the report showed new orders for non-durable goods inched up by 0.1 per cent in April after jumping by 1.6 per cent in March.
The Commerce Department also said shipments of manufactured goods rose by 0.4 per cent in April after spiking by 2.1 per cent in March.
Inventories of manufactured goods also increased by 0.3 per cent in April after climbing by 0.8 per cent in the previous month. With inventories and shipments both rising, the inventories-to-shipments ratio was unchanged from the previous month at 1.48.
