WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Orders for big-ticket U.S. goods rebounded last month, and businesses pumped up investment, signaling rising economic confidence, according to government data released Tuesday.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that orders for durable goods rose 3.5% in November, led by volatile aircraft and other transportation equipment. Economists had expected overall durable-goods orders to rise 2%, according to a MarketWatch survey. Excluding transportation, orders for durable goods rose 1.2%, the most since May.

In another key measure, orders for core capital goods, a proxy for business investment, rose 4.5% in November, the most since January. The strong showing signals that corporations are likely to step up investment in 2014, Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a research note.

“I would like to issue a profound ‘Woo Hoo!’ in response to this report,” Lee wrote.

The end of the government shutdown and reduced fiscal uncertainty likely encouraged firms to place new orders, economists say. Companies could also be rushing to take advantage of certain expiring tax programs.

The overall report point to a healthy gain in business spending. Shipments of core capital goods, a category used to calculate quarterly economic growth, rose 2.8% in November, the fastest pace since March 2012.

“Businesses may be starting to spend more freely. Combined with the signs of consumer resilience from yesterday’s spending numbers, that could bode well for the economy’s performance in 2014,” Peter Buchanan, an economist at CIBC World Markets, wrote in a research note.

Durable goods are pricey items designed to last for several years, so growth signals enough confidence in the economy to make such investments. Regional data have also shown recent pick ups for manufacturing.

Also Tuesday, the government reported that shipments of overall durable goods rose 1.8% in November, the most since July 2011. And the government revised durable-goods orders for October to a decrease of 0.7%, compared with a prior estimate of a 1.6% drop.

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