Japan's core private-sector machinery orders rise 17.1 pct. in Oct.
Source: Xinhua | 2020-12-10
Japan's core private-sector machinery orders rose in October from the previous month, marking the sharpest increase since record-keeping began and underscoring Japan's economic recovery from the initial negative impact of the pandemic, the government said in a report on Wednesday.
According to the Cabinet Office, the orders, excluding those for ships and utilities because of their volatility, rose 17.1 percent in October from the previous month.
The orders totaled 842.5 billion yen (8.08 billion U.S. dollars), in the recording month, the government's data showed and marked the fastest increase since comparable data became available in April 2005.
The latest reading saw the office upgrade its assessment of machinery orders saying that orders "have bottomed out."
This compares to the previous month's assessment in which the office said that machinery orders were "bottoming out."
The increase in core orders in the recording period comes on the heels of a 4.4-percent decrease booked a month earlier.
When the Japanese government declared a state of emergency and requested a swathe of public and private restrictions between April and May as the spread of the virus intensified, the economy here took a serious hit.
Businesses were asked to shutter production hubs and factories at home and abroad, and people were asked to restrict their activities, with many being asked to work from and stay at home.
Such restriction took a major toll on the world's third-largest economy, and regarding machinery orders, a government official was quoted as saying they were "suppressed" during that time.
"Investment for machinery had been suppressed amid the pandemic. But as economic activity resumed, it has been gradually growing," the official told reporters.
Machinery orders are a key advance indicator for corporate capital spending and the government uses the data to predict the strength of business spending in a six- to nine-month period ahead.
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