Factory orders fall slightly less than expected, durable goods revised touch higher

Factory orders fell slightly less than expected in June as durable goods orders were revised slightly higher by the Commerce Department on Thursday.

Factory orders fell 1.5% in June compared to May, versus the consensus forecast of a 1.9% fall.

Durable good orders in June fell 3.9% on the preceding month, not quite as bad as the initial estimate last week of 4% had indicated last week.

Excluding-transportation, durable goods were down 0.4% in June, as expected, lessening from the 0.5% in May.

The revision in durable goods was driven by core capital goods up 0.4%, versus the initial 0.2% rise.

Orders for non-durable goods increased 1.0% from 0.6% a month before.

"With the exception of the large drop in aircraft orders, most other categories of durables saw little change on the month, leaving the underlying trend for many areas of domestic manufacturing output growth rather soft," observed economists at Barclays.

They added: "On balance, this morning’s June report does little to change the picture of growth in the industrial sector."