Big-Ticket Manufactured Goods Stage Rebound

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Orders to factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose modestly in February, helped by a rebound in sales of commercial aircraft and autos. <br/><br/>The Commerce Department reported

Wednesday, March 28th 2007, 7:36 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Orders to factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose modestly in February, helped by a rebound in sales of commercial aircraft and autos.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that demand for durable goods rose by 2.5 percent last month after having plummeted by 9.3 percent in January. The huge January decline, the biggest in 6 1/2 years, was one of the factors that triggered a one-day drop of 416 points in the Dow Jones industrial average as investors grew worried that the economy was slowing abruptly.

Even with the February rebound, which was smaller than the 3.5 percent gain that Wall Street was expecting, the report continued to raise worries about the health of the manufacturing sector. Outside of the volatile transportation sector, orders were down 0.1 percent, the fourth decline in this category in the past five months.