Demand for durable goods, which make up just over half of total

Durable Goods

Demand for durable goods, which make up just over half of total factory demand, rose 0.4 percent. The government reported on Aug. 25 that bookings for these items increased 0.3 percent in July, boosted by demand for aircraft which is often volatile.

Some manufacturers are downgrading their forecasts. Intel, the world’s biggest chipmaker, last week cut its third-quarter revenue projection, citing weaker-than-expected consumer demand for personal computers in mature markets as the reason for the adjustment.

Cisco, the world’s largest maker of networking equipment, in August forecast first-quarter sales that missed analysts’ estimates. Chief Executive Officer John Chambers said the San Jose, California-based company was seeing “unusual uncertainty” and getting “mixed signals” about the health of the economy.

Bookings of non-durable goods, including food, petroleum and chemicals, were little changed, restrained by a drop in demand for petroleum.

Factory inventories climbed 1 percent in July, the biggest gain since February, today’s report showed. Manufacturers had enough goods on hand to last 1.26 months at the current sales pace, the same as in May and June.