US government figures show that orders for manufactured US durable goods rebounded 2.5% in February as demand for new aircraft picked up.
The rebound in orders, however, was weaker than the 3.5% most Wall Street analysts had forecast amid a slowdown of the wider US economy. Durable goods include items such as cars, aircraft and washing machines.
January's plunge in orders was revised deeper to a decline of 9.3%, compared with a previous estimate of a 8.7%, marking the worst decline in demand in almost seven years.
Excluding the transport sector, orders fell 0.1% in February following a decline of 4% in January.
