Manufactured Goods Orders Increase in February

The U.S. Department of Commerce is reporting the largest increase for big-ticket manufactured goods during in the last three months.

During February, durable good orders increased by 2.6%, which was double the expected gain. There was a 52.5% increase for commercial aircraft, which was a tremendous rebound after a 70.1% drop during January.

In the transportation sector, the increase came from commercial aircraft. Demand for military aircraft dropped 16.7% last month.

Excluding transportation orders, overall manufacturing orders dropped by 1.3%.