Japan's core private-sector machinery orders rose a seasonally adjusted 11.8 percent in April from the previous month to 1.02 trillion yen, led by active orders from manufacturers, the government said Thursday.
In the previous month, the core orders, excluding orders for ships and from electric power companies, showed a month-on-month 3.2 percent decline.
The figure for core orders in April represents an unadjusted 16.9 percent increase from a year earlier for the third consecutive monthly increase, the Cabinet Office said.
An official at the office said the strong gain in the core orders was led by active orders placed from manufacturers that soared 30.6 percent from the previous month, the highest growth since the Cabinet Office started the survey in April 1987.
The value of orders from manufacturers, totaling 490.8 billion yen, is the largest after 502.6 billion yen registered in July 1997.
Private-sector machinery orders are considered a leading indicator of corporate capital spending six to nine months ahead.
The core orders exclude orders for ships and from electric power companies as they tend to vary widely due to their huge size.