Factory Orders Fall Back In September

September factory orders fell 0.6 percent with durable goods orders falling 1.2 percent (revised from an initial 1.1 percent decline in last week's advance data) and nondurable goods (the new data in today's report) up 0.1 percent. Total unfilled orders have been flat this year and were unchanged in September while inventories rose 0.3 percent in contrast to shipments which fell 0.2 percent. Orders for commercial aircraft, pulled down by the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max, have been struggling this year and were down 11.8 percent in September.