WASHINGTON (MNI) - The value of new factory orders fell by 1.5% in June, a slightly smaller drop than the 1.6% decline expected, with nondurables orders up 1.0% and durables orders revised up slightly to a 3.9% decline, data released by the Commerce Department Thursday morning showed.
Total factory orders excluding transportation rose 0.4% in June, while durable goods orders excluding transportation were also down 0.4%
in the month, an upward revision from the 0.5% drop in the advance estimate.
Transportation orders fell 10.5% in June based on Thursday's data, unrevised from the advance estimate. Nondefense aircraft orders plunged 58.8% in June, while defense aircraft orders were down 6.7%. Motor vehicles orders rose 3.2% in June and orders for ships and boats rose 5.7%.
Petroleum and coal products shipments rose 3.9% in June following a 3.6% gain in the previous month, leading the increase in nondurables
orders in the month. Nondurables shipments are equivalent to orders in this report.
Nondefense capital goods new orders fell 11.1%, but were up 0.4% when a larger drop in the civilian aircraft category is excluded.
Overall factory shipments rose 0.7% in the month, but nondefense capital goods shipments were down 1.1%. Excluding the civilian aircraft
component, nondefense capital goods shipments fell 0.2%.
Factory inventories were down 0.1% in June at the same time that shipments posted a sharp gain, so the inventory-to-shipments ratio fell
to 1.35 in from 1.36 in May and 1.37 in June 2015.
The Commerce Department's advance report on inventories, released on July 28, pointed to a flat reading for wholesale inventories and a
0.5% gain for retail inventories. While these data are eligible for revision, the levels as they stand now would result in a 0.1% gain in
June business inventories when those data are released on August 12.
