Thursday, June 2, 2011

US factory orders broadly lower in April

WASHINGTON: New orders received by U.S. factories declined in April, partly because of a sharp drop in demand for transportation goods, according to a Commerce Department report on Thursday.

Overall orders fell 1.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted $440.4 billion after an upwardly revised 3.8 percent rise in March. That was steeper than the 1 percent fall that Wall Street economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast for April and implied some weakness in the factory sector that had performed relatively well until recently and helped support economic recovery.

Transportation orders plunged 9.3 percent in April, nearly wiping out a 10.6 percent rise in March orders. It was the sharpest falloff in monthly transportation orders since an 11.9 percent fall in December.

But order declines were widespread in April, affecting categories including primary metals, machinery, computers and electrical equipment in addition to cars and other transportation goods. ' Reuters

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