US factory orders up in February (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

Orders for US manufactured goods such as cars and electrical appliances rose in February after six straight months of falls, official figures show.

Orders increased by $5.5bn (£3.8bn; 4.1bn euros), or 3.4%, to $165.6bn.

Consecutive months of rising orders might indicate that consumers were increasing their spending, which would help to pull the US out of recession.

But despite the rebound from a 7.3% fall in January, analysts expect orders to fall again in the coming months.

Other figures, also from the Commerce Department, showed new US home sales rose unexpectedly in February, but still remained far below levels seen in 2008.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7963480.stm