Manufacturers' orders rose 1.4% during July (0.3% y/y) following a little-revised 0.5% June gain. The Action Economics Forecast survey expected a 1.2% increase.

Durable goods orders jumped 2.0% (0.6% y/y) after a 1.8% decline. The gain compared to an advance report of a 2.1% rise. A 7.0% jump (2.3% y/y) in transportation sector orders led the overall rise, as nondefense aircraft orders surged. Electrical machinery orders rose 0.5% (4.8% y/y) and computer & electronics orders improved 0.4% (1.3% y/y).

Total shipments eased 0.2% (+0.5% y/y). Shipments of nondurable goods, which equal orders, rose 0.8% (-0.1% y/y) after a 0.7% decline. Shipments from petroleum refineries surged 2.9% (-5.6% y/y) after two months of sharp decline. Textile mill shipments gained 0.7% (-1.1% y/y) but apparel shipments dropped 2.8% (-1.4% y/y). Paper product shipments were little-changed (0.3% y/y) while food product shipments rose 0.8% (0.7% y/y).

Shipments of durable goods declined 1.1% (+1.0% y/y) after a 0.9% rise. Machinery shipments fell 1.9% (-0.6% y/y) and electrical equipment shipments eased 0.2% (+4.2% y/y). Transportation sector shipments declined 2.0% (+2.3% y/y) as nondefense aircraft shipments weakened 16.2% (-13.0% y/y). Shipments of electrical equipment & appliances eased 0.2% (+4.2% y/y) but computer & electronic product shipments improved 0.2% (3.2% y/y).

The level of unfilled orders of durable goods were unchanged following three straight months of decline. Primary metals backlogs rose 0.5% (2.8% y/y). Unfilled orders of machinery held steady (-1.5% y/y) while computer & electronic product backlogs rose 0.1% (2.7% y/y). Electronic equipment & appliance unfilled orders jumped 1.1% (1.0% y/y). Unfilled orders for furniture declined 1.0% (-1.1% y/y).

Inventories in the factory sector rose 0.2% (3.1% y/y) during July. Auto inventories surged 2.7% (21.3% y/y). Machinery inventories gained 0.4% (5.8% y/y) for the second straight month. Electrical equipment & appliance inventories rose 0.4% (8.2% y/y) but computer & electronic product inventories fell 0.2% (+0.4% y/y). Nondurable goods inventories eased 0.1% (+0.8% y/y) as petroleum inventories also slipped 0.1% (-4.9% y/y). Food products inventories rose 0.2% (1.1% y/y). Inventories of textile products rose 0.6% (2.7% y/y) but chemical product inventories eased 0.3% (+1.5% y/y).

The factory sector figures are available in Haver's USECON database. The expectation figure is in the AS1REPNA database.