New orders for U.S. manufactured goods increased in February, up three of the last four months, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported on Tuesday.

In February, U.S. factory orders rose 1.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted 468.4 billion U.S. dollars, following a revised 1.1 percent decline in January.

New orders for durable goods, big-ticket items expected to last at least three years such as computers, cars and machinery, increased 2.4 percent to 212.5 billion dollars in February. This followed a 3.5 percent January decrease.

New orders for nondurable goods, including food, paper products, petroleum and coal products, increased 0.4 percent to 255.9 billion dollars for the month.

The recovery of the manufacturing sector has served as a main engine of the U.S. economic growth during past several quarters. The U.S. economy grew at a quicker pace of 3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.