Washington, DC, June 2--Demand for new factory goods increased 0.9% in April, the fastest gain in five months, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
Shipments of factory goods increased 0.7%, while inventories increased 0.1%. The inventory-to-shipment ratio fell to 1.24 from 1.25 in March. Economists were expecting orders to rise about 1.1%.
Orders in March were revised up sharply to a 0.7% gain from 0.1% previously. Orders for durable goods rose 1.9%, unchanged from last week's estimate. Orders and shipments for nondurable goods fell 0.2%, on a drop in petroleum.
