Ford Motor Company employees work on the assembly line for the new 2008 Ford Taurus, new 2008 Ford Taurus X, and Mercury Sable, Friday, June 22, 2007 at the Chicago Assembly Plant where they are being built. The Commerce Department said Friday, Aug. 31, 2007 that orders to factories jumped by 3.7 percent in July, even better than the 3.3 percent increase that had been expected. The increase, which followed three months of lackluster gains, was led by an 11 percent jump in demand for transportation goods, including the biggest leap in orders for cars in more than four years. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)