US factory orders rise 0.3% in May, lower than estimates

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US factory orders rose 0.3% in May, lower than estimates, according to Commerce Department figures released Wednesday.

New orders for manufactured goods increased $1.6 billion, or 0.3%, to reach $578 billion in May, rising for the fifth time in the last six months.

Expectations for the figure, which measures the change in the value of new purchase orders placed with manufacturers, was to show a gain of 0.8%.

The figure for April was revised down from a rise of 0.4% to an increase of 0.3%, while it stood at $576.4 billion that month.

New orders for manufactured durable goods in May increased $5 billion, or 1.8%, to $288.4 billion, which was up for three consecutive months.

The figure in April posted a gain of 1.2%, revised up from the previous figure of an increase of 1.1% gain.

Inventories of manufactured durable goods rose by $1.3 billion, or 0.2%, to $523 billion, also rising for the fifth time in the past six months.

During the last six months, the only decline was in March when it decreased 1%.