WASHINGTON — New orders for manufacturers rose 0.8% in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Excluding transportation, new orders rose 0.2%.
The May orders followed a revised drop of 0.9% in overall orders and a 0.2% increase in orders excluding transportation for April.
The median estimate of economists polled by Thomson Reuters was for a 1.0% increase in total orders.
The non-military capital goods category, an indication of manufacturing health, was up 5.7% in May. Core non-military capital goods, excluding the aircraft category, was up 1.6%.
The ups and downs of the Boeing order book produced a 36.5% jump in non-military aircraft following a revised 29.0% decline in April.
Orders for motor vehicles were up 2.0%. Machinery orders were up 0.4% and computers and electronics rose 1.2%. Consumer goods orders fell 2.4% in a sign of household retrenching.