(Oct 27): US orders for durable goods rose in September by the most in five months, on stronger bookings for aircraft and other business equipment, adding to evidence of momentum in manufacturing.

The value of orders for durable goods, meant to last at least three years, increased 1.8% after an upwardly revised 0.1% gain in the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed on Tuesday.

Core capital goods orders, a proxy for investment in equipment that excludes the volatile aircraft and military hardware categories, increased 0.5% last month.

The durables report showed a 28.4% increase in commercial aircraft orders. Boeing Co reported more orders in September compared with the prior month. Bookings for computers, machinery and motor vehicles also rose.

Business investment has been robust this year, led by spending related to artificial intelligence. The durables report suggests that trend continued through September, setting the stage for a strong capital spending reading when the government issues its initial estimate of third-quarter (3Q) gross domestic product on Thursday.

Non-defence capital goods shipments including aircraft, which feed into the equipment investment portion of the GDP report, rose 1.7%. The government uses data on shipments as an input to GDP rather than orders, which can be canceled.

Before the report, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow forecast anticipated business spending on equipment would add one percentage point to 3Q growth.

Core capital goods shipments, a less volatile metric that excludes planes and military hardware, rose 1.2% — extending a stretch of robust advances.

Economists prefer the core equipment shipments figure to gauge underlying capital investment since there are extremely long times between ordering aircraft and military hardware and the actual shipment taking place.

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