Factory Orders Ease Slightly in February

Orders for U.S. factory goods eased slightly in February, a sign the economy may be climbing out of recession at a less robust pace than some had thought.

The Commerce Department said the value of new manufactured-goods orders eased 0.1% to a seasonally adjusted $323.8billion--contrary to Wall Street economists’ expectations of a 1% pickup in orders.

The inventory-to-shipments ratio, which measures the amount of time it would take to deplete supplies at the current pace of shipments, crept up to 1.37 months’ worth from 1.34 in January.

Separately, the consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said layoff announcements by U.S. companies fell 20% in March to 102,315, still above the average for the 1991-92 recession.