The country's core private-sector machinery orders rose 17.1% in October from the previous month, the sharpest increase on record, as the economy recovered from the initial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, government data showed Wednesday.
The orders, which exclude those for ships and from electricity utilities due to their volatility, stood at ¥842.53 billion ($8.1 billion), the Cabinet Office said. The pace of increase was the fastest since comparable data became available in April 2005, topping the previous record of 14.8% growth marked in January 2008.
The office upgraded its assessment of the reading, saying machinery orders, seen as a leading indicator of capital spending, "have bottomed out." In the previous month, it said they were "bottoming out."