New orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose more than expected in August following a decline in July, according to a preliminary report from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Factory orders rose 2.3% month over month to $510.47 billion from a revised $498.93 billion in July. Econoday forecast orders to increase by 2.1%.

New orders for manufactured durable goods increased 4.4% to $259.55 billion in August from $248.57 billion in July. New orders for nondurable factory goods edged up 0.2% to $250.92 billion from $250.35 billion.

Total shipments of durable goods rose 0.7% to $253.09 billion from $251.31 billion. Shipments of nondurable goods went up 0.2% to $250.92 billion from $250.35 billion.

Unfilled orders for durable goods increased 0.9% to $1.176 trillion from $1.166 trillion.

Durable goods inventories fell 0.3% to $407.20 billion from $408.56 billion. Inventories for nondurable goods grew 0.3% to $268.41 billion from $267.60 billion.

The August inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.34, down from 1.35 in July.