By Jeffry Bartash WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - A surge in demand for large commercial jets propelled a 5.7% gain in February for orders of durable goods, the U.S. government said Tuesday. Orders fell 0.5% excluding transportation, however. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected orders to climb 4.6% overall, largely because of a snapback in bookings for Boeing jets. Commercial aircraft orders, a typically volatile category, soared 95.3% in February after a 24% plunge in the prior month. Auto orders also rose 3.8%. Stripping out the transportation sector, orders fell slightly, with most of the decline occurring in heavy machinery and computers, the Commerce Department said. Orders for core capital goods, a key barometer of private-sector business investment, dropped 2.7% after a 6.7% increase in January. It was the largest decrease since July. Shipments of core capital goods, a category used to calculate quarterly economic growth, rose 1.9% in February. Orders for January, meanwhile, were revised to a 3.6% decline from a prior reading of a 4.9% drop. In the past 12 months, orders for durable goods have risen 0.6%. Core orders are up 0.7% in the same span.

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