U.S. factory orders gain steam as manufacturing keeps humming

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! Finance

U.S. factory orders gain steam as manufacturing keeps humming

Mon, October 4, 2021, 10:13 AM
By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New orders for U.S.-made goods accelerated in August, pointing to sustained strength in manufacturing even as economic growth appeared to have slowed in the third quarter because of shortages of raw materials and labor.

The Commerce Department said on Monday that factory orders increased 1.2% in August. Data for July was revised higher to show orders rising 0.7% instead of gaining 0.4% as previously reported. Orders have now increased for four straight months. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory orders gaining 1.0%. Orders shot up 18.0% on a year-on-year basis.

"Factory orders continue to climb, a good sign for manufacturing," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. "However, manufacturing is still being tested by the global supply-chain issues."

Shortages held back shipments of factory goods, which barely registered a 0.1% gain in August after advancing 1.5% in July.

Manufacturing, which accounts for 12% of the economy, is being driven by still-strong demand for goods despite spending shifting back to services. Businesses are rebuilding inventories, which were depleted in the first half.

An Institute for Supply Management survey last week showed manufacturing activity steadily expanding in September, but noted that "companies and suppliers continue to deal with an unprecedented number of hurdles to meet increasing demand."

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Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-factory-orders-increase-strongly-141339489.html

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I'll have to use the Census Bureau .pdf as a placeholder until Yahoo! Finance or someone else picks this up.

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Here's the original post:

New orders for manufactured goods in August increased $6.2 billion or 1.2 percent to $515.7 billion.

https://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/prel/pdf/s-i-o.pdf

FOR RELEASE AT 10:00 AM EDT, MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021

MONTHLY FULL REPORT ON MANUFACTURERS' SHIPMENTS, INVENTORIES AND ORDERS AUGUST 2021

Release Number: CB 21-150 M3-2 (21)-08

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October 4, 2021 -- The U.S. Census Bureau announces the August full report on manufacturers' shipments, inventories and orders:

MANUFACTURED GOODS - NEW ORDERS
AUGUST 2021 $515.7 billion +1.2%
JULY 2021
(revised) $509.5 billion +0.7%
Next release: November 3, 2021

Data adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes.

{snip}

Summary

New orders for manufactured goods in August, up fifteen of the last sixteen months, increased $6.2 billion or 1.2 percent to $515.7 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. This followed a 0.7 percent July increase. Shipments, also up fifteen of the last sixteen months, increased $0.3 billion or 0.1 percent to $508.3 billion. This followed a 1.5 percent July increase. Unfilled orders, up seven consecutive months, increased $11.9 billion or 1.0 percent to $1,239.4 billion. This followed a 0.5 percent July increase. The unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio was 6.86, up from 6.81 in July. Inventories, up fourteen of the last fifteen months, increased $4.1 billion or 0.6 percent to $749.3 billion. This followed a 0.6 percent July increase. The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.47, unchanged from July.

{snip}

[Ford_Prefect]

1. So Biden is crashing the economy, eh? Tell me another one...