Today in business: 5 things you need to know

Proctor & Gamble cleans house, Abercrombie & Fitch shares sink, and more

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1. DURABLE GOODS ORDERS RISE

The Commerce Department reported Friday that durable goods orders increased more than expected in April. The report reinforced predictions that U.S. manufacturers would bounce back in the second half of 2013. Orders of factory equipment jumped by 3.3 percent. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected just a 1.5 percent increase, coming off of a 5.9 percent drop in March. [Bloomberg]

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.