U.S. Factory Orders Jump 1.7% In September, In Line With Estimates

(RTTNews) - New orders for U.S. manufactured goods showed a notable increase in the month of September, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Monday, with orders rebounding after showing an unexpected decrease in August.

The report said factory orders jumped by 1.7 percent in September after edging down by 0.1 percent in August. While the increase in orders in September matched economist estimates, orders had been expected to rise by 0.3 percent in the previous month.

The Commerce Department combined the data for August and September into a single report as a result of the government shutdown.

The increase in factory orders in September was partly due to a 12.9 percent surge in orders for transportation equipment, which came on the heels of a 1.8 percent increase in August.

Excluding the jump in orders for transportation equipment, factory orders dipped by 0.2 percent in September compared to a 0.4 percent drop in August.

The report said orders for durable goods shot up by 3.8 percent in September after rising by 0.5 percent in August.

Meanwhile, orders for non-durable goods edged down by 0.2 percent in September following a 0.6 percent drop in the previous month.

The Commerce Department also said shipments of manufactured goods inched up by 0.1 percent in September after rising by 0.2 percent in August.

With inventories rising at a faster rate than shipments, the inventories-to-shipments ratio crept up to 1.30 in September from 1.29 in August.