
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 25, 1990                   TAG: 9007250509
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

FACTORY ORDERS FELL 3.2 IN JUNE

Orders to U.S. factories for "big ticket" manufactured goods plunged 3.2 percent in June, the government said today.

The Commerce Department said demand for durable goods, items expected to last three or more years, suffered a May-to-June decline of $4.14 billion to a seasonally adjusted $124.69 billion last month.

The report caught analysts by surprise. They had been expecting a healthy increase following on the heels of a 4.2 percent rise in May.

The decline, the third in the past six months, served to emphasize the problems besetting the U.S. manufacturing sector.

Durable goods orders are considered a key signpost for the future since a drop in orders normally triggers cutbacks in production plans and job layoffs.

The June weakness was widespread across all industry groups. About half of the decline was attributed to a 20.7 percent drop in orders for military hardware, the biggest setback in the defense category since a 33.6 percent drop in January.

The military sector tends to be extremely volatile, depending on the timing of government contracts.

But even without the big defense decrease, durable goods orders would have been down 1.7 percent.

by CNB