Demand for manufactured goods remained solid in December last year, indicating steady business investment growth in the month.

New orders for manufactured durable goods increased 2.9 percent from previous month to 249.4 billion U.S. dollars in December last year, said the Commerce Department on Friday.

The growth, higher than the 1.7 percent increase in November, was mainly driven by the increases in transportation equipment, which jumped 7.4 percent from the previous month to 87.2 billion dollars.

For the whole 2017, new orders for durable goods rose 5.8 percent from 2016.

The strong demand for manufactured goods indicated a steady growth in business investment. A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed that the nonresidential investment rose 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, an increase of 4.7 percent growth in the previous quarter.

Economists expected that business investment would keep current growth momentum this year in view of the tax cuts bill passed last December.