Big-ticket factory orders tick up just 0.4%

WASHINGTON » Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods increased just 0.4% in August following a much larger gain in the previous month. It was the fourth consecutive monthly increase, but the most recent uptick was far weaker than the 11.7% surge in July, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Economists had expected production to ease somewhat after manufacturers rebounded strongly in previous months fromCOVID-19 related shutdowns, but the growth in Augustwas less than half what economists had projected.