WASHINGTON — Businesses requested more airplanes, autos and oil-drilling equipment in May.
The jump in factory orders after a sluggish spring suggests supply disruptions stemming from the Japan crisis are fading.
Factory orders rose 0.8 percent in May, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That followed a revised drop of 0.9 percent in April.
The increase pushed factory orders to $445.3 billion. That’s almost 32 percent higher than the low point during the recession, reached in March 2009.
Much of the increase was driven by a 36.5 percent increase in orders for aircraft, a volatile category. But there were also signs of strength in areas that had slowed sharply in the previous month.
Auto and auto-parts orders rose 2 percent. And a measure of business investment rose 1.6 percent after falling 0.4 percent the previous month. Companies invested more in computers and equipment.
Orders for so-called nondurable goods, such as food, clothing, oil and plastics, fell 0.2 percent in May. But that was partly because oil prices dropped.
Until this spring, manufacturing had been one of the strongest sectors of the economy since the recession ended two years ago. Economists largely blamed the weak period on high gas prices and the impact of the March 11 earthquake in Japan, which led to a parts shortage that has hampered U.S. manufacturers.
