Core machine orders in Japan climbed a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent on month in March, the Cabinet Office said on Wednesday - coming in at 862.3 billion yen.
That missed expectations for an increase of 2.5 percent following the 1.5 percent gain in February.
On a yearly basis, core machine orders fell 0.7 percent, missing forecasts for a gain of 1.2 percent following the 5.6 percent spike in the previous month.
The total value of machine orders, which includes volatile ones for ships and electric power companies, climbed 1.3 percent on month but dropped 11.9 percent on year to 2,235.5 billion yen.
Manufacturing orders gained 0.6 percent on month and lost 4.9 percent on year to 352.9 billion yen in March, while non-manufacturing orders dropped 3.9 percent on month and added 2.2 percent on year to 496.4 billion yen.
Government orders jumped 15.0 percent on month and tumbled 24.1 percent on year to 263.7 billion yen. Orders from overseas slipped 2.8 percent on month and 2.6 percent on year to 846.2 billion yen. Orders from agencies shed 3.1 percent on month and gained 5.8 percent on year to 124.4 billion yen.
For the first quarter of 2017, core machine orders fell 1.4 percent on quarter and 1.0 percent on year to 2,550.7 billion yen.
For the second quarter of 2017, core machine orders are forecast to have tumbled 5.9 percent on quarter and 6.8 percent on year.
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