Machinery orders drop 9.1% in April after sales tax hike

Core private-sector machinery orders plunged a seasonally adjusted 9.1 percent in April compared with the previous month, with the first consumption tax hike in 17 years blurring the economic outlook, the government said Thursday.

Core orders, excluding those for ships and from utilities because of their volatility, fell for the first time in two months to ¥851.3 billion, following record growth of 19.1 percent in March, the Cabinet Office said.

Total orders, including those from the domestic public sector and abroad, surged 34.8 percent to ¥3.13 trillion, the highest since comparable data started being compiled in April 2005, due to big orders exceeding ¥10 billion, the office said.