Demand for US-manufactured goods rose at the sharpest rate in three months in June, the US government said yesterday in a report that offered the latest sign that the struggling industrial sector is on the mend.
Factory orders rose 1.7 per cent in June to a seasonally adjusted $326 billion (€290 billion) after an increase of just 0.3 per cent a month earlier, the Commerce Department said. It was the biggest gain since March and beat expectations on Wall Street.
Orders for costly durable goods - items intended to last three years or more - rose 2.6 per cent, their biggest increase since last July and an upward revision from the 2.1 per cent gain reported a little more than a week ago. Demand for shorter-lived goods rose 0.7 per cent.
The June increase in factory orders is among a number of recent signs showing activity stirring in the long-suffering manufacturing sector.
The Institute for Supply Management said on Friday its manufacturing index pushed up to 51.8 in July from 49.8 in June, signalling growth in the factory sector.
While aircraft and autos contributed importantly to the solid gain in durables demand in June, orders were up 1.2 per cent, even excluding transportation goods.Among other durable goods categories, orders for primary metals, machinery, electrical equipment and computers, and electronic products all gained, but demand for fabricated metal products slipped. - (Reuters)
