by Caitlin Kenney

The Commerce Department says that orders for durable goods, manufactured products expected to last more than one year, increased 3.4 percent last month. Economists had expected a 2 percent drop.

The biggest increase, 32.4 percent, came in orders for military aircraft and parts. Demand for heavy machinery, computers and fabricated metal products was also up.

The good news did not come without some gloom however, January's drop in durable-goods orders was worse than originally thought. Orders actually fell 7.3 percent in January.