Orders to U.S. factories posted the best increase in three months in August as the manufacturing sector showed strength in the face of surging energy prices.
The Commerce Department reported that orders rose by 2.5 percent to $395.2 billion, led by strong demand for computers and other electronic products. The increase followed a 2.5 percent drop in July which fueled worries that manufacturing, an energy-intensive sector of the economy, could falter as oil prices climbed to record levels.
