U.S. companies boost equipment orders

Companies ordered more machinery, computers and communication equipment in August, a positive sign for the sluggish U.S. economy. An increase in demand for those types of longer-lasting factory goods suggests businesses are sticking with their investment plans, despite slow growth and weak consumer spending. Overall orders for durable goods slipped 0.1% last month. The modest decline was largely due to an 8.5% drop in orders for vehicles and auto parts. In July, demand for those goods surged 10.2%—the biggest increase in eight years. Economists are looking past the headline figure and focusing more closely on a 1.1% increase in a key category measuring business investment plans. Those are core capital goods that are neither used for defense nor transportation. Shipments of those goods rose 2.8%, the fourth consecutive gain in this category. The government looks closely at shipment data when calculating economic growth. The forecasting panel for the National Association for Business Economics predicts 2.2% growth in the second half of this year. For the full year, it predicts just 1.7% growth. Read more from The Associated Press here.