Japan's core machinery orders, a key gauge of corporate capital spending, plunged by a much larger-than-expected 16.2% in November from the previous month, official data showed on Jan. 15.
The drop in core private-sector machinery orders, which exclude particularly volatile demand from power companies and for ships, came after a 4.4% fall in October.
Core machinery orders placed by manufacturers dived 33.2% in November after a 2.2% fall in October, hit by steep falls in demand from the chemicals, steel and automobile industries.
Orders by the non-manufacturing sector rose by a marginal 0.5% after a decline of 2.3% in the previous month.
Machinery orders from the public sector rose 10.9% in November, reversing a 0.2% fall in October.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009
