graphic
graphic  
graphic
News > Economy
graphic
Factory orders jump
Orders for goods made in U.S. factories post biggest gain since October 2001.
September 5, 2002: 10:26 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Orders for goods made in U.S. factories rose in July, the government said Thursday, recovering from June's dramatic drop.

Factory orders jumped 4.7 percent in July to $327.6 billion after dropping a revised 2.5 percent in June, the Commerce Department reported. Economists expected orders to rise 4.7 percent, according to Briefing.com.

The data had little effect on U.S. stock prices, which fell in early trading, dragged down by other economic data showing weakness in the labor market and in the service sector of the economy. Treasury bond prices rose.

The gain in factory orders contrasts with Tuesday's report by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) that U.S. manufacturing activity grew at an anemic pace in August.

Together, the data paint a mixed picture of business spending, which Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and other economists have called crucial to the economy's recovery from a recession that began in March 2001.

Business spending dried up after a boom in the late 1990s, leading to a prolonged recession in the manufacturing sector, more than a million job cuts, and a recession in the broader economy.

In the Commerce Department report, manufacturers' inventories fell for the 18th straight month, dropping 0.1 percent to $427.8 billion, the lowest level since May 1997.

New orders for durable goods, such as cars and computers, which are meant to last three or more years, rose 9.2 percent to $180.5 billion. The government had previously reported that durable goods orders rose 8.7 percent in July.

But orders for non-durable goods fell 0.3 percent to $147.1 billion.  Top of page




  More on NEWS
JPMorgan dramatically slashes Tesla's stock price forecast
Greece is finally done with its epic bailout binge
Europe is preparing another crackdown on Big Tech
  TODAY'S TOP STORIES
7 things to know before the bell
SoftBank and Toyota want driverless cars to change the world
Aston Martin falls 5% in its London IPO




graphic graphic

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.