A worker is seen in front of facilities and chimneys of factories at Keihin Industrial Zone in Kawasaki.
TOKYO Reuters- Japan's core machinery orders rose for a second straight month in November, government data showed on Monday that corporate appetite for capital spending remained resilient despite pressure from soaring raw material prices.
The gain in core orders, a key indicator of capital expenditure, could be a relief for policymakers who are hoping for corporate investment to spark a private demand-led recovery in the world's third largest economy.
Core orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as an indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, grew by 3.4% in November from October, for the second consecutive month, the Cabinet Office data showed.
It beat the median estimate of a 1.4% rise and followed a 3.8% jump in the previous month.
Japanese firms may be cautious about boosting spending due to higher raw material, fuel and transportation costs that are sending wholesale inflation soaring and squeezing corporate margins.
The Cabinet office data shows that core orders, which exclude volatile numbers from shipping and electric power utilities, increased 11.6% in November, compared with a year earlier in the year.
Orders from manufacturers rose 12.9% month-on-month, a 0.8% drop in those from non-manufacturers, according to the data.
The government raised its assessment on machinery orders, saying they showed signs of picking up. It said that a pick-up in orders was showing signs of stalling.
Japan's economy is expected to return to growth in the October-December quarter after contracting in the third quarter of last year.
The economy is projected to show growth of an annualised 6.5% in the quarter, thanks to a projected pick up in private consumption, which makes up more than half of the economy, after an easing of coronaviruses curbs.