Japan experienced an uptick in core machinery orders in November, a sign of rising capital expenditure, according to official data released Monday.
The Cabinet Office reported a 3.4 percent increase in core machinery orders compared to October's 2.1 percent rise, defying predictions of a 0.7 percent decline. This marks the second consecutive month of growth.
Orders from manufacturers rose by 6.0 percent, although this was slower than the 12.5 percent surge seen previously. Core orders from non-manufacturers saw a 1.2 percent increase, counterbalancing a previous 1.2 percent decline.
Conversely, total machinery orders saw a steep monthly decline of 14.4 percent, a significant drop from the 21.1 percent increase in October.
In a related development, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry revised its data to show that industrial production decreased slightly less than initially thought in November.
The month-on-month production fell by 2.2 percent, reversing a 2.8 percent gain in October. An initial estimate pegged this decline at 2.3 percent. Year-on-year, production dropped by 2.7 percent following a 1.4 percent increase in the previous period.
Additionally, production capacity utilization decreased by 1.9 percent from the prior month, after experiencing a 2.6 percent gain in October.
Another report from METI indicated that activity in the tertiary industry fell by 0.3 percent month-on-month, compared to a 0.1 percent increase in October. On an annual basis, growth in the tertiary industry activity slowed to 0.9 percent from 1.5 percent.
