Orders for big-ticket manufactured goods in the US rebounded in February as the prior month's plunge was revised further downward, the Commerce Department said today. New orders for durable goods rose by 2.5 pct in February after declining a revised 9.3 pct in January, the sharpest one-month fall since June 2000. January's decline had been reported as an 8.7 pct fall. February's rise was slower than the 3.1 pct increase economists had expected Excluding transportation goods, durable goods orders fell for the second consecutive month, declining 0.1 pct in February after sinking 4.0 pct in January. Economists had expected orders excluding transportation goods to rise 1.8 pct in February. Orders for commercial aircraft and cars each rose after falling sharply in the prior month. Auto orders rose 1.3 pct in February after falling 9.2 pct in the month. Commercial aircraft rose 88.4 pct after plunging 60.4 pct in the prior month. Excluding defence goods, durables rose 2.5 pct in February after falling 9.l pct in the prior month Non-defence capital goods orders rose 9.5 pct in February after falling 21.2 pct in January. Excluding volatile aircraft orders, non-defence capital goods orders, a category seen a gauge of US business investment, fell 1.2 pct in February after falling 7.4 pct in January and rising 4.0 pct in December. Inventories of durable goods rose 0.2 pct in February, while shipments of durable goods fell 0.8 pct in the month.