US factory orders climb less than expected in July
US factory orders climbed 0.4% in July to mark the second consecutive month of growth, official data showed on Wednesday.
According to figures released by the Commerce Department, June's figures were upwardly revised to show a 2.2% increase compared with the 1.8% rise that was initially reported.
However, July's gain was short of the 0.9% hike analysts had expected.
July's factory orders increase was driven by a 5.5% surge in transportation equipment, while orders for manufactured nondurable goods fell 1.3%.
Defense communication equipment orders soared 25.5%, while ship and boat orders rose 19.5% and defence aircraft and parts slumped 13.1% and computer orders fell 10.6%.
"The downward revision to manufacturers’ inventories of nondurable goods in June trimmed our second quarter GDP tracking estimate by one-tenth to 3.7%," analysts at Barclays said in a note.
"Weaker-than-expected growth in this same category in July cut our estimate of overall third quarter inventory investment, pulling our third quarter GDP tracking estimate down three-tenths to 2.3%."