Businesses in the U.S. expanded at a faster pace than forecast in November, signaling the world's largest economy was speeding up heading into 2011.

The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. said today its business barometer rose to 62.5 this month, the highest since April, from 60.6 in October. Figures greater than 50 signal expansion. The median forecast of 63 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected the gauge would fall to 59.9.

Manufacturing may keep accelerating as exports grow and companies invest in new equipment, sustaining the recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s. Gains in factory production will probably help offset continued weakness in housing, which is a shrinking part of the world's largest economy.