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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (147862)	6/26/2002 10:38:20 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1585133

<font color=green>May Durable Goods Orders a Bit Stronger Than Expected By JEANNINE AVERSA .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (June 26) - The nation's factories, hardest hit by last year's recession, saw fresh signs of improvement in May, with orders for costly manufactured goods rising 0.6 percent. The advance in orders for durable goods - items expected to last at least three years - followed a 0.4 percent increase in April, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. The May increase was slightly bigger than the 0.5 percent gain many analysts were forecasting. The latest snapshot of manufacturing activity clearly shows an economic sector on the mend after being mired in a long slump during which hundreds of thousands of jobs were cut as production was throttled back. But Wednesday's report and other manufacturing data suggest the factory sector isn't going gangbusters. That partly reflects the fact that businesses, worried about the staying power of the national economic recovery, are reluctant to make big commitments, including investments in new plants and equipment, a key ingredient for a sustained rebound. Shipments, a good barometer of current demand, were flat in May, following a 3.4 percent jump in April. The 0.6 percent increase in new orders to factories in May was the largest since a 1.7 percent advance in February. It marked the fifth increase in the last six months. Factories reported that new orders for fabricated metal products rose 2.4 percent in May, on top of a 1 percent rise the previous month. Orders for primary metals - including steel, went up 0.9 percent, down from a strong 6.3 percent increase. For computers and electronic products, orders rose 1 percent in May, compared with a 2.9 percent increase the month before. There were some weak spots. Orders for cars fell 2 percent in May, following a 12.1 percent jump. Orders for electrical equipment and household appliances declined by 2.1 percent, down from a 10.3 percent advance. And, orders for machinery dipped 0.4 percent, following a 4.5 percent increase. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has warned that the recovery could be less than sizzling because consumers, who kept buying throughout the slump, might not have a lot of pent-up demand. A recent government report showed that shoppers cut back on their spending in May, with sales at the nation's retail stores falling by the biggest amount in six months. AP-NY-06-26-02 0836EDT Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.