New orders for costly and long-lasting US-made goods rose by a surprisingly strong 3.4% in March, according to a US government report.
The pick-up in March durable goods orders followed a revised 2.4% February gain, the Commerce Department report showed, and easily surpassed Wall Street economists' expectations.
Even excluding transportation goods, which account for more than a quarter of overall business, March orders were up 1.5% after declining 0.4% in February.
A key component of the monthly report which measures goods used for business investment showed a 4.7% increase, the biggest since September 2004.
Economists and Federal Reserve policy-makers have been closely monitoring business investment behaviour, concerned that if companies cut back spending it could deepen a slowdown in national economic activity that began late last year.
