Weak growth in US factory orders

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Poor demand for aircraft and other transport hurt April's US factory orders, which were lower than expected.

Total orders rose by 0.3%, Commerce Department figures have shown - much lower than the 0.8% increase forecast.

A drop in transport orders was not particularly significant as it is a volatile category, analysts said.

They argue a better guide to business spending is the growth in orders for non-defence capital items excluding aircraft, up 2.1% and higher in March.

Revival

The Commerce Department also revised March's overall factory orders to a 4.1% gain, up from 3.1%, which added to confidence that US manufacturing maybe picking up after a recent slowdown linked to the cooling economy.

The March data was heavily influenced by a large amount of aircraft orders.

US manufacturing sentiment has been volatile in recent months, as companies have looked to trim new orders in the wake of a general slump in housing and a build-up in supplies of unsold cars.

However, the Commerce Department said orders for durable goods - items built to last for at least three years - rose by 0.8% during April, topping forecasts of a 0.6% rise.

Orders for non-durable goods, such as petrol and chemicals, fell by 0.2%.