Official figures show that new orders for long-lasting US manufactured goods rose by 5.2% in December compared with the previous month. The increase was much bigger than expected.
The Commerce Department figures also showed that orders for non-military goods excluding aircraft rose by 4.4%. This is often seen as an indicator of business investment activity.
Excluding the volatile transport category, durable goods orders still rose by 2.6%, much better than the unchanged figure expected by economists.
