U.S. Factory Orders Show Significant Rebound In May

New orders for U.S. manufactured goods showed a substantial rebound in the month of May, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.

The Commerce Department said factory orders spiked by 8.0 percent in May after plunging by a revised 13.5 percent in April.

Economists had expected factory orders to surge up by 8.9 percent compared to the 13.0 percent plunge originally reported for the previous month.

The rebound in factory orders came as durable goods orders soared by 15.7 percent in May following an 18.3 percent nosedive in April. Orders for transportation equipment led the rebound, skyrocketing by 82.0 percent.

The report also showed a notable rebound in orders for non-durable goods, which jumped by 2.0 percent in May after tumbling by 9.3 percent in April.

The Commerce Department also said shipments of manufactured goods surged up by 3.1 percent in May following four consecutive monthly decreases.

Meanwhile, inventories of manufactured goods edged up by 0.2 percent in May after falling by 0.5 percent in the previous month.

With shipments increasing by much more than inventories, the inventories-to-shipments ratio dropped to 1.65 in May from 1.70 in April.