the numbers orders at us factories for longlasting goods such as machinery and electronics rose a solid 04 in april signaling the economy was still growing at a steady pace in the early spring economists polled by the wall street journal had forecast a 07 increase durable goods are products meant to last at least three years another measure of factory conditions seen as a proxy for business investment also rose by 03 the government said these socalled core orders strip out the upanddown transportation sector as well as government spending on military equipment they are viewed by investors as a signal of future business prospects big picture factories are working at full tilt and business investment is still robust but high inflation and rising interest rates are starting to cause erosion ongoing labor and supply shortages are also a hindrance other reports on manufacturing particularly more recent ones point to some erosion in demand with the federal reserve planning to raise interest rates sharply this year the us economy is bound to slow market reaction the dow jones industrial average djia and sp 500 spx were set to open lower in wednesday trades