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

The surge in orders for durable goods, which are products expected to last at least three years, was the latest evidence of a rebound in manufacturing. The gains will likely provide support for the economy into 2014.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday that orders for durable goods jumped 3.5 percent last month compared with October, when they had fallen 0.7 percent. The increase was led by a 21.8 percent surge in demand for commercial aircraft, which can be volatile.

Core capital goods, a category that tracks business investment, rose 4.5 percent, 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.

WASHINGTON — New-home sales dipped in November, but the government released more positive figures for the previous three months, a sign that housing may be regaining strength after a summer lull.Sales slipped 2.1 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The slight drop occurred after sales had surged to a rate of 474,000 in October. That was the fastest pace since 2008 and was 17.6 percent above the September level — the biggest one-month jump in 21 years.

DETROIT — U.S. safety regulators have expanded an investigation into rear light failures in Mercedes-Benz C-class luxury vehicles.The probe now covers nearly 253,000 cars from the 2008 through 2011 model years.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the stop, tail and turn signal lights can fail because of a melted electrical connector. The agency and Mercedes have received 402 complaints, including five fires and one injury.Mercedes also reported more than 23,000 warranty claims that could be tied to the problem.The safety agency has upgraded the probe to an engineering analysis. That’s a step closer to a recall, but so far no recall has been issued.