WASHINGTON — The government said today demand for big-ticket manufactured goods soared by the largest amount in 16 months in April, the second increase in the past three months.

The Commerce Department said orders for durable goods rose by 1.9 percent in April, more than four times the 0.4 percent increase that had been expected.

But the government is revising down its estimate for new orders in March to show a drop of 2.1 percent, a much bigger fall than the 0.8 percent decline previously reported.

Still, new orders have risen in two of the past three months after having recorded six straight declines.

Analysts believe this could be signaling the deep recession in manufacturing could be bottoming out. But they believe a sustained rebound is still some distance away.