Transport sector drives US factory orders lower

Factory orders in the United States fell more than expected in September, according to figures out on Monday from the Census Bureau, representing the fourth decline in the past five months

New orders for manufactured goods were $2.8bn less in September at $584.2bn, down 0.5% over the month. That followed a revised 0.8% drop in August and came in worse than the 0.4% fall expected by economists.

Durable goods orders were down 0.7% over the month at $284.8bn. The Census Bureau said orders for transportation equipment drove the fall, dropping 3.1% to $95.4bn, with civilian aeroplane orders in particular falling sharply.

When excluding transportation from the overall total, factory orders would have increased by 0.1% over the month.

Meanwhile, orders for non-durable goods fell by a lesser 0.2% to $299.4bn.