Japan's core private-sector machinery orders fell 5.1 percent in last November from a month earlier on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the Cabinet Office said on Monday.
According to the government report, the orders, a highly volatile data series which exclude those for ships and from utilities, came in below median market forecasts for a 1.7 percent fall, totaling 833.7 billion yen (7.29 billion U.S. dollars) in the recording period.
The government data showed that non-manufacturing machinery orders, including the wholesale and retail sector, showed some weakness.
Chemical makers, oil refiners and the transport sector in particular, marked significant declines, the office said.
Orders from the manufacturing sector, however, climbed 9.8 percent to 363.5 billion yen, following a 1.4 percent increase a month earlier, while orders from the non-manufacturing sector dropped 9.4 percent to 483.4 billion yen, the figures showed.
The Cabinet Office said in its latest basic assessment that machinery orders had been picking up but have come to a standstill.
The total value of machinery orders received by 280 manufacturers operating in Japan increased by 20.6 percent in November from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Cabinet Office said, totaling 2.59 trillion yen.
Overseas demand for Japanese machinery, often viewed as a barometer for exports in the future, increased 37.3 percent to 1.10 trillion yen in the recording month, the office said.
While the Japanese yen has been comparatively weak versus the U.S. dollar ahead of Donald Trump taking office as the next U.S. President, economists here believe that capital expenditure by Japanese manufacturers has been reigned in owing to uncertainty about global trade ties and concerns about protectionism, which could impact U.S. machinery orders from Japan.
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 and such business investment accounts for roughly 15 percent of Japan's gross domestic product.
Types of machinery included in the monthly government survey comprise engines and turbines, heavy electrical machinery, electronic and communication equipment, industrial machinery, machine tools, railway rolling stock, road vehicles, aircraft, ships, water crafts, as well as sub types in those categories.
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