U.S. Factory Orders Declined in June

By Paulo Trevisani

Orders from U.S. factories fell in June, declining for two of the last three months, the Commerce Department said Monday.

New orders contracted 4.8% month over month to $611.7 billion in June. Excluding transportation, orders rose 0.4%. Excluding defense, there was a 4.7% decline.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal were expecting a 4.9% decline in the headline figure.

Inventories of manufactured durable goods increased by 0.2% to $588.63 billion. Inventories of nondurables rose by 0.2% to $356.97 billion.

Write to Paulo Trevisani at paulo.trevisani@wsj.com.