WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New orders received by U.S. factories rose a smaller-than-expected 1.3 percent in July, as a rise in aircraft orders outweighed sluggish demand for nondurable goods, government data showed on Wednesday 2 September.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting factory orders to rise 2.2 percent. The Commerce Department said factory orders rose for the fourth straight month after a 0.9 percent gain in June.

Transportation orders jumped 18.5 percent in July on a 105.1 percent surge in civilian aircraft orders. When transportation was excluded, factory orders fell 0.7 percent, the first decline since April.

Orders for nondurable goods, which include textiles, paper and chemical products, slipped 1.9 percent, the largest drop since December.

Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, viewed as a proxy for business investment, slipped 0.3 percent.

Inventories fell 0.7 percent, the 11th straight monthly decline. Inventories of durable goods were down 0.9 percent, the seventh straight monthly drop. In addition, shipments from factories have declined in 11 of the last 12 months and unfilled orders have declined 10 straight months.

(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal, Editing by Neil Stempleman)