U.S. factories saw demand for big-ticket goods rebound in February.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported this morning that orders for durable goods – rose by 2.5% last month. That was an improvement from the 2.7% drop registered in January and represented the largest increase since October.

February’s performance was better than economists were expecting. They were calling for a 1.2% rise in durable-goods orders.

February’s rebound was led by stronger demand for transportation equipment, including cars and airplanes. Orders for those goods jumped by 9.9% in February, compared with a 10.5% decline in January. Last month’s rise was the largest since July 2002.

Excluding orders for goods from the military, all other durable-goods orders rose by 2% in February, after a 2.2% decrease the month before.