U.S. November durable goods orders soared 3.5% in November, while excluding transportation orders rose 1.2%, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected a 1.7% increase in orders and a 0.7% excluding transportation.
In October, orders fell a revised 0.7%, first reported as a 1.6% decline, while excluding transportation sales grew 0.7%.
Excluding defense orders rose 3.5% in November and 0.2% in October.
Transportation equipment orders rose 8.4% in the month.
Shipments of manufactured durable goods grew 1.8% in November, while inventories rose 0.3%.