Many nations are facing challenging reports on Septembers factory orders.

Factory orders in the United States declined while Germany saw a slight increase, but both countries failed to show positive results after a sharp decline in the previous month.

U.S.

In the U.S., orders fell by 0.6 per cent in September; the lagging results are due to a decline in demand for aircraft. In August, orders plunged 10 per cent.

This general swing is not surprising and the aircraft industry is a significant indicator of factory order health. In July, factory orders increased by 315 per cent, but have sharply fallen.

Orders at aluminum, iron and steel mills rose in September, as did demand for furniture and motor vehicles. But those gains were offset, in part, by declining orders for construction machinery, electronics products and consumer goods.

Despite the decrease in orders, other manufacturing indicators point toward strengthening factories. The U.S. manufacturing index survey climbed to 59 in October, up 3 points from the previous month. Any reading above 50 signals expansion. The survey behind the index showed that orders, productivity and hiring each improved at a faster clip in October than the prior month.

Separately, the Federal Reserve reported last month that U.S. manufacturing output rose in September. Factory production rose 0.5 per cent in September after falling 0.5 per cent in August.

Factories have added 161,000 jobs over the past 12 months.

Stronger domestic demand for manufactured goods has offset what appears to be less demand from China and Europe, wher an economic slowdown has caused the dollar to rise and make American-made products more expensive for foreign buyers.

Germany

German saw a sharp dro in the previous month, and Septembers factory orders did not make up for the decline, only rising slightly.

Orders rose 0.8 per cent over August, following a revised 4.2 per cent dro that month over July, according to figures adjusted for seasonal and calendar factors.

Foreign orders rose 3.7 per cent, helping offset a 2.8 per cent dro in domestic orders.

Following an economic contraction of 0.2 per cent in the April-June period, analysts say Germany needs to post a strong rebound in September to avoid another dro in the third quarter, which would technically put Europes largest economy in a recession.