WASHINGTON – Increases in business investment and new-home sales indicate the economy is gaining strength heading into 2014, the Wall Street Journal reports.

"It's a holly, jolly data Christmas for the economy as all signs point to an accelerating economy," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors. 

Orders for U.S. durable goods rose 3.5% last month, reversing an October slide, the Commerce Department said earlier this week. Excluding the transportation category, manufactured-goods orders rose 1.2%, the biggest jump in six months. 

Americans also purchased new homes at a strong pace last month, a sign that the housing market is regaining strength after a rise in mortgage rates.  October and November marked the two strongest months of new-home sales since in more than five years.

The two reports reveal renewed optimism by both businesses and prospective homeowners, two major drivers of the economy. The data prompted Macroeconomic Advisers to raise its Q4 gross domestic product growth estimate to 2.6%. 

Another economic bright spot was increased demand for motor vehicles, which rose 3.3% last month, the strongest showing since February.

However, still weighing on the recovery is a high unemployment rate, which remains at 7% with nearly 11 million unemployed workers. Additionally, while consumer and business spending have increased lately, they are still at “sluggish levels,” according to WSJ, with workers’ wages languishing.