Orders for US manufactured goods rise in August

New orders for US manufactured goods rose by 2.4 percent to 395.2 billion dollars in August, the biggest advance in three months, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.

The rise in factory orders followed a 2.5-percent drop in July which had Fed worries that manufacturing could falter as crude oil prices climbed to record highs.

Data showed that orders for durable goods, items expected to last at least three years, increased by 3.4 percent in August. That was slightly higher than the 3.3-percent gain the government estimated in a preliminary report last week.

The advance in durable goods orders was led by a 5.5-percent surge in orders for computers and other electronic products.

August's demand for cars, airplanes and other transportation equipment rose by 1.4 percent after a 9.1-percent plunge in transportation orders in July.

Excluding volatile transportation orders, August's total durable goods orders would have been up by 2.7 percent, the best in this category over the last 17 months.

Data also showed that orders for non-durable goods rose by 1.6 percent in August following an increase of 1 percent in July.

Source: Xinhua