Nov 22 (Reuters) - U.S. companies increased their borrowings for capital investments in October by 16% compared with a year earlier, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) said on Monday. The companies signed up for $10.7 billion in new loans, leases and lines of credit last month, up from $9.2 billion a year earlier. Borrowings rose 16% from September. "Fourth-quarter economic growth is projected to be buoyant despite higher prices and labor imbalances in the economy." ELFA"s Chief Executive Officer Ralph Petta said in a statement. "With the recent signing of major infrastructure legislation coming out of Washington, the future for capital investment looks bright." Washington-based ELFA, which reports economic activity for the nearly $1-trillion equipment finance sector, said credit approvals totaled 78%, up from 76.3% in September. ELFA"s leasing and finance index measures the volume of commercial equipment financed in the United States. The index is based on a survey of 25 members, including Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), CIT Group Inc (CIT.N) and the financing affiliates or units of Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N), Dell Technologies Inc (DELL.N), Siemens AG (SIEGn.DE), Canon Inc and Volvo AB (VOLVb.ST). The Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation, ELFA"s non-profit affiliate, reported a monthly confidence of 64.6% in November, up from 61.1% in October in their index. A reading above 50 indicates a positive business outlook. Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel