Tech Shipments Lag In New Factory OrdersTech Shipments Lag In New Factory Orders

The technology industry kept pace with the overall economy last month in terms of the value of shipments, according to figures released Thursday by the Census Bureau, but it's still lagging slightly behind when it comes to new factory orders. All manufacturing industries reported a total of $324.2 billion in shipments in August, a 0.6% drop from the $326.1 billion reported in July. Manufacturers of computers and electronic products, not including semiconductors, also saw a 0.6% drop in shipments to $27.7 billion in August, down from $26.9 billion in July.

For all manufacturing industries, new orders were flat at $326.6 billion for both July and August. But computers and electronic products, not including semiconductors, dropped 0.3% to $26.3 billion in August, compared with $26.4 billion in July.