Factory orders for manufactured goods fell 0.1 per cent in February from the previous month, the US Commerce Department said today.
This is the first monthly decline in factory orders since November.
The drop in orders was unexpected. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for orders to rise 0.9 per cent in February.
Factory orders increased a revised 1.1 per cent in January, weaker than the initial estimate that orders increased 1.6 per cent.
Year-on-year, factory orders were down 5.8 per cent in February.
Orders for durable goods rose 1.8 per cent in February, stronger than the advance estimate last week which indicated that orders rose 1.5 per cent.
The decline in February factory orders was led by lower orders for non-durable goods which fell by 2.4 per cent.
Manufacturing inventories fell 0.4 per cent in the month, after a 0.8 per cent fall in January.
Manufacturing inventories have now fallen for the last thirteen straight months.
Durable goods inventories fell 0.5 per cent in February after declining 1.0 per cent in the previous month.
AFP