02.04.202014:25:00UTC+00U.S. Factory Orders Unexpectedly Unchanged In February

A report released by the Commerce Department showed new orders for U.S. manufactured goods were virtually unchanged in the month of February.

The Commerce Department said factory orders edged down by less than a tenth of a percent to $497.4 billion in February after falling by 0.5 percent to $497.5 billion in January. Economists had expected orders to rise by 0.2 percent.

Factory orders came in nearly unchanged as a 1.2 percent jump in orders for durable goods was offset by a 1.2 percent slump in orders for non-durable goods.

The Commerce Department said shipments of manufactured goods edged down by 0.2 percent in February following a 0.6 percent decrease in January.

Inventories of manufactured goods also fell by 0.4 percent in February after slipping by 0.3 percent in the previous month.

With inventories and shipments both falling, the inventories-to-shipments ratio in February was unchanged from January at 1.40.