Orders for durable goods rose 3.4% in March.

The Commerce Department said orders climbed to a seasonally adjusted $105.37 billion last month, the highest monthly total since December. Last month’s increase was aided by a big jump in demand for military equipment. The March increase followed an even stronger 6.7% rise in February. About 80% of the March increase was concentrated in demand for military hardware, which shot up 38.2% last month following an even stronger 48.9% rise in February. Without the huge increase in the defense category, orders would have risen only 0.8% last month following a 4.5% rise in civilian demand in February.