Economy, Factory | featured news

New orders for a range of long-lasting manufactured goods fell in June and a gauge of planned business spending plans dropped, pointing to a slowdown in factory activity. The Commerce Department said on Thursday durable goods orders excluding transportation dropped 1.1 percent, the biggest decline since January, after rising 0.8 percent in May. Economists had forecast this category being flat last month.

Factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region in July contracted for a third straight month and the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless aid surged last week, heightening worries about the economy's health.

China's factory downturn worsened in June as a key activity index hit a seven-month low, data expected to raise expectations the central bank may seek more policy easing to revive the world's second-largest economy.

New orders for factory goods fell in April for the third time in four months as demand slipped for everything from cars and machinery to computers, the latest worrisome sign for the economy.

China's factories faltered in May as export orders fell to two month lows, a private sector survey showed on Thursday, suggesting surprise weakness in April's hard economic data persists even as policymakers seek to shore up growth.

New orders for U.S. factory goods rebounded in February and firms increased orders for capital goods, suggesting manufacturing held on to some momentum early in the year.

Chinese factories battled with their weakest activity in 32 months in November, a preliminary purchasing managers' survey showed, reviving worries that China may be skidding toward an economic hard landing and compounding global recession fears.

A monthly manufacturing survey from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released Monday morning shows the factory sector is still growing, albeit modestly.

The U.S. economy ended last year on an encouraging note, with all parts of the country showing improvements. Factories produced more, shoppers spent more and companies hired more. All those sign...

New data indicate the American economy is continuing to recover despite the European slowdown.