Japan Dec. Core Machinery Orders Up 19.1 Pct

Tokyo, Feb. 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s seasonally adjusted core machinery orders in December last year rose 19.1 pct from the previous month, up for the first time in two months, the Cabinet Office said Thursday. The result, which followed a 11.0 pct drop in November, far exceeded the median estimate of a 4.3 pct rise in a Jiji Press survey of economic research institutes. Private-sector orders, excluding those for ships and power equipment, closely watched as a leading indicator of corporate capital spending, stood at 1,052.5 billion yen. The government agency kept its basic assessment unchanged, saying machinery orders are showing signs of picking up. For the whole of 2025, core orders climbed 6.6 pct from the previous year to 11,210.1 billion yen, hitting the highest level since 2006, when the figure stood at 11,676.4 billion yen. Takeshi Minami of Norinchukin Research Institute Co. said that capital spending is expected to “remain firm,” citing demand for investments in labor-saving measures and artificial intelligence-related initiatives, both aimed at alleviating labor shortages. Of the private-sector orders in December, those from manufacturers increased 25.1 pct from the previous month to 498.3 billion yen, boosted by large-scale orders for chemical machinery and nuclear power plants. Orders from nonmanufacturers grew 8.2 pct to 533.1 billion yen. Total orders, including those from the public sector and overseas, surged 23.8 pct to 4,148.1 billion yen. For October-December, core orders rose 7.9 pct from the previous quarter to 2,929.3 billion yen, the first increase in two quarters. For January-March 2026, core orders are forecast to fall 4.5 pct. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]