US factory orders up 2.1% in May

New orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose in May for the second straight month, a good sign for the manufacturing sector, the U.S. Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. U.S. factory orders increased 9.9 billion U.S. dollars, or 2.1 percent, to a seasonally adjusted 485 billion dollars in May. It followed a 1.3- percent gain in the previous month. New orders for durable goods, big-ticket items expected to last at least three years such as computers, cars and machinery, jumped 3.7 percent to 231.2 billion dollars in May. New orders for nondurable goods, including food, paper products, petroleum and coal products, advanced 0.7 percent to 253.8 billion dollars. A separate report on Monday showed that U.S. manufacturing activity rebounded in June after a decline in the previous month, boosted by a pickup in new orders and stronger production.