US factory orders increase 1.2% in August

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) – US factory orders rose $6.2 billion, or 1.2%, to $515.7 billion in August, marking its 15th increase in the last 16 months, according to the US Commerce Department on Monday.

The market expectation for factory orders, which measures the change in the total value of new purchase orders placed with manufacturers, was to increase by 1%.

Factory orders were up 0.7% in July, standing at $509.5 billion.

New orders for manufactured durable goods in August rose $4.7 billion, or 1.8%, to $263.6 billion, after increasing 0.5% in July.

Most of the increase in durable goods came from transportation equipment, which rose $4.1 billion, or 5.4% to $80.7 billion in August.