Official figures show that demand for a range of long-lasting US manufactured goods rose by more than expected in September to post the largest increase in six months.
The figures are seen as cementing views of a step-up in US economic growth in the third quarter, even though new orders for transport equipment fell.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders excluding transport rose 1.7% after falling 0.4% in August. The rise beat economists' expectations for a 0.4%.
But a drop in demand for transport equipment, as orders for motor vehicles and civilian aircraft declined, pulled down overall orders 0.8%. That followed a 0.1% dip in August and was in line with economists' expectations.
Transport orders fell 7.5%, the largest decline since April. The tenor of the report was further strengthened by a 2.4% jump in non-defence capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched indicator of business spending. That was the largest increase since March.
The report was further evidence that US economic activity picked up in the third quarter after a weak first half. Though manufacturing has slowed in recent months, the September durable goods report pointed to underlying resilience.
US home sales rise in September
Separate figures showed that new US single-family home sales rose at their fastest pace in five months in September, but sustained price declines indicated that the housing market is far from recovery.
The Commerce Department said sales increased 5.7% to a seasonally adjusted 313,000-unit annual rate.
The percent change in overall sales last month was the largest since March, while the sales pace was the fastest since April.
August sales were revised slightly up to 296,000 units from the previously reported 295,000 units. In the 12 months to September, new home sales were down 0.9%.
The housing market recovery is being frustrated by a glut of unsold properties and an unemployment rate that has been stuck above 9%.
US report shows widening income gap
A US government study has shown that income for the richest Americans has grown 15 times faster than for the poor since 1979.
The income disparity, and concentration of more than 80% of US wealth in the top 20% of earners, highlights the volatility in the race for the White House as President Barack Obama's Republican challengers push plans to reduce taxes for the wealthy as a way to prime the sluggish economy.
From 1979 to 2007, the wealthiest 1% of Americans more than doubled their share of the nation's income, from nearly 8% to 17%, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said in a report released yesterday.
"Income after transfers and federal taxes for households at the higher end of the income scale rose much more rapidly than income for households in the middle and at the lower end of the income scale," it said.
US government policy over the years has become less redistributive, and "the equalising effect of transfers and taxes on household income was smaller in 2007 than it had been in 1979," the CBO added.
For the wealthiest one percent of the population, average after-tax household income grew by 275% during the period, compared with just 18% for the poorest 20%.
It was also a far greater increase than for the six-tenths of the population in the middle of the income scale, who saw their average after-tax income grow by just under 40% during the same period.
