US Factory Orders Fall for 2nd Month While Job Openings Below Forecasts

US Factory Orders Fall for 2nd Month

Factory orders in the United States eased 0.3% from the previous month to $656.5 billion in June of 2026, extending the revised 1.1% decline in the previous month, missing expectations of a 0.2% increase. It was the first month of back-to-back declines in nearly one year, indicating some impact from soaring energy costs due to the war in the Middle East and lingering impact from tariffs. Non-durable goods orders fell by 1.2% to $321.13 billion, amid lower prices for chemicals and petroleum derived products. In turn, durable goods orders inched higher by 0.5%, holding most of the 4.0% decline from May. Orders were lower for fabricated metal products (-0.6% to $45.2 billion) and transportation equipment (-0.1% to $114.1 billion), weighing against growth for machinery (0.3% to $43.8 billion) and computers and electronic products (3.2% to $31.1 billion).

US Job Openings Below Forecasts

Job openings in the US decreased by 178,000 to 7.359 million in June 2026, below market expectations of 7.40 million. The number of job openings decreased in healthcare (-147,000), leisure and hospitality (-86,000), wholesale trade (-74,000), and business services (-71,000). Job openings also fell in nondurable goods manufacturing (-55,000), and mining and logging (-9,000), but rose in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+97,000) and in federal government (+39,000). Regionally, openings fell in the Northeast (-62,000), the South (-50,000), and the Midwest (-97,000), but rose in the West (32,000). Over the month, hires were unchanged at 5.3 million, while total separations changed little at 5.4 million. Within separations, quits (3.2 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.8 million) were unchanged.

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