Orders for US durable goods jumped 3.8% to $US207 billion in November, a bigger rise than had been expected.
The US Commerce Department said that, excluding transportation goods, orders rose overall by 0.3%.
In the same announcement the previous month's figures were revised up to $199bn from $197.7bn.
Transportation goods include aeroplanes which drove most of the growth, the BBC reports.
Plane-builder Boeing received 96 orders for aircraft in November compared with 7 in October.
Car manufacturers saw orders fall by 0.5% in the same period after rising 5.9% in October.
Analysts had expected an overall rise in US durable goods orders of about 2% in November.
Western Asset Management senior portfolio manager Chris Orndorff told the BBC that while the increase was a good sign, durable goods levels are still lower than previous periods.
In a separate report the Commerce Department announced more positive results for the US in sales of new homes.
US consumer spending figures, which the Commerce Department also released on Friday, rose by only 0.1% from October. Incomes also rose by just 0.1%, the smallest rise in personal incomes since August.