U.S. Factory Orders Pull Back Less Than Expected In May

(RTTNews) - Reflecting a sharp pullback in new orders for durable goods, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing a steep drop in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the month of May.

The Commerce Department said factory orders slumped by 1.3 percent in May after spiking by an upwardly revised 5.3 percent in April.

However, economists had expected factory orders to tumble by 2.0 percent compared to the 4.8 percent surge originally reported for the previous month.

The pullback in factory orders came as orders for durable goods plunged by 4.5 percent in May after soaring by 8.5 percent in April.

Orders for transportation equipment led the way lower, plummeting by 14.0 percent in May after skyrocketing by 22.4 percent in April.

Meanwhile, the report said orders for non-durable goods shot up by 2.2 percent in May after jumping by 1.9 percent in April.

The Commerce Department also said shipments of manufactured goods increased by 1.6 percent in May, while inventories of manufactured goods rose by 0.2 percent.

With shipments climbing by much more than inventories, the inventories-to-shipments ratio dipped to 1.47 in May from 1.49 in April.