U.S. Factory Orders Fall 0.6% In September, In Line With Estimates

(RTTNews) - New orders for U.S. manufactured goods fell in line with economist estimates in the month of September, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.

The report said factory orders fell by 0.6 percent in September after tumbling by 10.0 percent in August. The continued decrease in orders matched the consensus estimate.

The drop in factory orders in September was largely due to a 1.1 percent decrease in orders for durable goods, which plunged by 18.3 percent in the previous month.

Orders for transportation equipment led the decrease once again, tumbling by 3.5 percent in September after plummeting by 42.4 percent in August.

Meanwhile, the report said orders for non-durable goods came in nearly unchanged in September after dipping by 0.4 percent in August.

Excluding the steep drop in orders for transportation equipment, factory orders also came in nearly flat for the second consecutive month.

The Commerce Department also said shipments of manufactured goods inched up by 0.1 percent in September after falling by 1.1 percent in August.

Inventories of manufactured goods also ticked up by 0.2 percent in September after edging up by 0.1 percent in the previous month.

With inventories and shipments both ticking higher, the inventories-to-shipments ratio for September was unchanged from the previous month at 1.30.