U.S. factory orders for non-durable goods fell in June, while durable goods orders picked up, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday.
Overall, new orders fell 0.5 percent, following a downwardly revised 0.5 percent rise in May, the bureau said.
Overall, new orders dropped by $2.1 billion to $465.8 billion.
But new orders in the transportation sector rose 8 percent to $68.7 billion, leading all increases. Durable goods -- items expected to last three years or more -- rose 1.3 percent to $220.7 billion.
Non-durable goods orders fell by $5 billion or 2 percent to $245.1 billion.
With transportation excluded from the data, factory orders overall fell 1.8 percent.
Inventories of durable goods, up for 29 of the past 30 months, rose in June by 0.4 percent to $367.2 billion.
The transportation sector had the largest inventory increase. Also up 29 of the past 30 months, inventories in transportation, including big ticket items of planes, trains, trucks and ships, rose by $900 million or 0.8 percent to $108.9 billion.
Inventories of non-durable goods, down for consecutive months, fell by 0.5 percent or $1.2 billion to $238.2 billion.
Leading the non-durable goods decline, petroleum and coal products inventories fell 2.3 percent or by $1.2 billion to $51.1 billion.
