New orders for manufactured goods to factories in the United States increased by 1.8 percent in February, rebounding from a record sixth straight monthly declines, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The February gain was bigger than the 1.1 percent rise that analysts had expected and in contrast to a 3.5 percent drop in January.

Orders for durable goods, big-ticket items expected to last at least three years such as computers, cars and machinery, rose by 3.5 percent in February after having plunged 7.8 percent in the previous month.

Demand for transportation equipment, which account for more than a quarter of total durable goods demand, gained 2.7 percent, a big improvement from the 11.9 percent plunged in January.

Excluding volatile transportation products, overall factory orders would have risen by 1.6 percent, compared with a 2.4 percent drop in January.

Orders for nondurable goods, including food, paper products, petroleum and coal products, also edged up 0.3 percent in February. But the pace was smaller than the 0.5 percent increase in the prior month.

U.S. manufacturers have been battered by the financial crisis and economic recession as demand has shrunk both in the United States and in their major overseas markets.

Economic activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector failed to grow in March for the 14th consecutive month but at a slower pace than expected, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday.

The rebound in factory orders may well prove temporary given all the forces that are continuing to batter the economy, according to analysts.