WASHINGTON, Oct 28 - New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods were weaker than expected in September, held back by falls in demand for transport and defense goods, a government report showed on Tuesday, but other areas pointed to robust business spending. Orders for durable goods, items designed to last three years or more, rose 0.8 percent in September, the Commerce Department said, lower than analyst forecasts for a 1.4 percent increase. That followed a large revision in August, with orders revised to a decline of 0.1 percent from a previously reported drop of 1.1 percent. Overall orders were weighed down by a 26.7 percent drop in demand for defense capital goods and by a 3.9 percent decline in non-defense aircraft and parts. Excluding defense, demand for durable goods rose 2.6 percent. But orders for non-defense capital goods rose 3.4 percent and those orders excluding aircraft, which many economists look to as a sign of business investment plans, climbed 3.9 percent. Federal Reserve and other U.S. officials have welcomed the recent pickup in capital goods orders as a sign the slump in business spending has eased. A collapse in business investment led the economy into recession in early 2001 and officials have said a revival is crucial to ensure a broad-based, sustained recovery.||