Factory orders declined 0.2% in August as vehicle bookings decreased, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

U.S. manufacturing activity rose in September, showing continued expansion for the 26th consecutive month, the Institute for Supply Management said Monday.

Daimler AG and a large Chinese truck maker have received Chinese government approval for their joint venture to build medium- and heavy-duty trucks and engines for the domestic market and for export.

Manufacturing activity in the New York region contracted in September for the fourth straight month, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Thursday.

Factory orders rose by the most in four months in July, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

NAPA, Calif. — North America’s largest heavy-duty truck maker is struggling to find the parts necessary to build all the trucks it has agreed to supply to fleets during 2011, and has had to turn down “thousands” of orders, according to a senior company official.

Cummins Inc. remained the top U.S. heavy-duty engine builder in the first half of this year, but its market share dropped by more than 6% from the comparable period of 2010 as truck manufacturers placed more of their in-house power plants in their new vehicles.

Truck and engine makers last week outlined some of the engineering innovations they will have to develop and put onto highways over the next six years to meet recently unveiled federal heavy-truck greenhouse-gas regulations.

Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region dropped in August to its lowest level since March 2009, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday.