Official figures show that new orders received by US factories rose by 0.9% in September, while inventories continued to shrink.
The Commerce Department said September was the fifth month out of six in which orders had risen. The figures were better than economists had expected. Orders had dropped by 0.8% in August.
Machinery, which makes up roughly 7% of factory orders, had the largest surge of 7.9% - its biggest increase since March 2008.
Inventories have now fallen for 13 months in a row, with factories paring their stocks by 1% in September. This is the longest streak of shrinking inventories since they fell for 15 months in a row beginning in February 2001.
A survey yesterday showed that the US manufacturing sector grew for a third consecutive month in October, with the index of activity moving up to a stronger than expected 55.7.
The Institute of Supply Management said its factory index, also known as the purchasing managers' index, showed the highest rate of growth since April 2006.
