Durable goods orders jump 3.5% in November

WASHINGTON — Businesses stepped up their orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods in November. And a key category that signals business investment plans climbed at the fastest pace in 10 months.

The Commerce Department report issued Tuesday says orders for durable goods jumped 3.5% in November compared with October, when orders had fallen 0.7%. The increase was led by a 21.8% jump in demand for commercial aircraft, which can be volatile.

Core capital goods, a category that tracks business investment, rose 4.5%, the biggest gain since January. This category is seen as a gauge of business plans to expand and modernize and as a measure of business confidence.

The monthly increase topped the 2% advance that had been estimated in a survey of 75 economists by Bloomberg News.

Various barometers have signaled strength in manufacturing, which should translate into support for the overall economy going into 2014.