New orders for manufactured goods surprisingly rose in March, by 1.3% -- when the market had been expecting a decline of 0.1%. The Commerce Department also reported upward revisions to February's reading from a gain of 0.6%, to a rise in new orders of 1.3%. Having been up 11 of the past 12 months, new orders for manufactured goods are 12.1% higher than that which was order in March 2009. A 12.3% decline in orders for transportation equipment not only contributed to a depressed reading for durable orders (down 0.6% over the month), but also pulled down the headline number, which would have otherwise risen 3.1%. Within transportation, auto orders rose 2.7%. “Manufacturing is very strong right now across a broad variety of industries,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. “We’re seeing a rebound in demand, both consumer and business spending have picked up and we’re getting that snapback effect where firms are having to raise production even faster than demand is picking up.”