New orders for the US manufacturing sector outperformed forecasts last month, driven by widespread growth across various industrial categories. Data released Tuesday shows that factory orders climbed 1.8% in September, surpassing the 1.2% consensus estimate and marking the highest monthly growth rate for the metric in more than 4 years.
The September gain included a 1.3% increase in orders excluding transportation, which beat the 0.5% forecast, and a 2% rise in orders excluding defense. The report also revised figures for August, raising the monthly growth rate from 0.1% to 0.3% and increasing durable goods orders to a 1.9% gain.