Core private-sector machinery orders rose a seasonally adjusted 4.7 percent from a month earlier in August to ¥807.8 billion, data showed Thursday, prompting the government to upgrade a leading indicator of capital spending.
Core orders, excluding those for ships as well as from utilities because of their volatility, climbed for the third straight month after orders rose 3.5 percent in July and 8.8 percent in June after a record plunge of 19.5 percent in May, the Cabinet Office said in upgrading its assessment.
The figures are closely watched because Prime Minister Shinzo Abe views business investment — which accounts for around 15 percent of gross domestic product — as a pillar of the economic growth needed to beat nearly two decades of deflation.