April Factory Orders Improve

U.S. factory orders rose in April for the second time in three months, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The 0.7% gain followed a revised 1.9% drop in March about twice the decline originally reported.

Economists had forecast a 0.9% increase for April, Bloomberg reported.

Durable goods orders, which make up slightly more than half of factory orders, rose 1.7%. Excluding transportation orders, which tend to be volatile, orders rose 0.1%.

The trucking industry relies on factory orders and shipments for much of its business.